Vol 52 No 3 ISSN 1479-0882 May / June 2018

The façade of the Corby, which will be retained when the auditorium is demolished – see Newsreel p19; photo taken February 2004.

, a replica of which is to be created in Harwich this summer – see Events p4. Firstly, may I apologise for getting the date of the AGM wrong in the announcement on p3 of the last Bulletin. The heading was correct but the body text gave the wrong month. The correct date is Saturday 28 Company limited by guarantee. Reg. No. 04428776. July in Hull – the official announcement is on p4 of this Bulletin. Registered address: 59 Harrowdene Gardens, Teddington, TW11 0DJ. I also forgot to include Cartoon Corner last time – more apologies. The Registered Charity No. 1100702. Directors are marked in list below. missing one is below and I’ll continue with the series next time. I’m sorry I have had no space for holiday snaps this issue. I was very tight for space, even after increasing the size to 36 pages. I have quite a few holiday snaps held over but would always welcome more. I Full Membership (UK)...... £29 would also welcome more contributions for the Rewinding Back page. Full Membership (UK under 25s)...... £15 Talking of rewinding, I reported in my last Editorial where a projection Overseas (Europe Standard & World Economy)...... £37 box sequence in an episode of Endeavour was filmed. Someone Overseas (World Standard)...... £49 pointed out that in those days [1960s] the rewind bench would have Associate Membership (UK & Worldwide)...... £10 Life Membership (UK only)...... £450; aged 65 & over £350 been in a separate room and not in the box! Life Membership for Overseas members will be more than this; Talking of TV series, the in Woodhall Spa (Lincs) please contact the membership secretary for details. featured in an episode of Village of the Year with Penelope Keith. All membership and subscription enquiries should be sent to Unfortunately the village didn’t win. On the back page, I have reproduced a 1931 contract between National Screen Services and the Gillingham (Kent) to supply Items for possible inclusion in the Bulletin should be sent to trailers. It was sent in by Carl Chesworth, who draws your attention to the column headed “film or disc” in the table near the bottom. Finally, I was in York recently and I noticed that at the former , which has had to retain the ODEON sign as it is grade II listed, new [[email protected]] owners have lit just the E of ODEON in neon. Clever! 47 The Street, Old Basing, Basingstoke, RG24 7BX Harry Rigby, CTA Bulletin Editor 11 Tarrant Avenue, Witney, OX28 1EE [[email protected]] 59 Harrowdene Gardens, Teddington, TW11 0DJ (details as membership secretary above) Chairman: 45 Arnold Road, Bow, London, E3 4NU [[email protected]] Members: as main committee plus Tim Hatcher, Jane Jephcote, Mark Price, Vicky Simon, James Weir & Peter Wylde [[email protected]] 14 Ivychurch Gardens, Cliftonville, Margate, CT9 3YG

73 Cressy House, Hannibal Road, London, E1 3JF [[email protected]] 228 Malpas Road, Brockley, London, SE4 1DH

34 Pelham Road, London, N22 6LN [[email protected]]

69A Mill Street, Kidlington, Oxford, OX5 2EE [[email protected]] [[email protected]] 66 Woodside Road, High Wycombe, HP13 7JB [[email protected]] 13 Tennyson Court, Paddockhall Road, Haywards Heath, RH16 1EZ [[email protected]] 11 Merker Terrace, Linlithgow, EH49 6DD / [[email protected]] 3 Swan Lane, Ystalyfera, Swansea, SA9 2JB Emma Beeston, Kevin Gooding, Lynda Hillman, Tim McCullen, Sally McGrath, Ken Roe, David Simpson Please use [ ] if uncertain to whom to address an e-mail from the Joyce Braddon collection of Film Weekly, 1938-1939 enquiry; this address will be monitored and e-mails redirected if necessary.

Members are invited to submit items for possible publication to the Bulletin Editor. However, it is stressed that the publication of an item does not necessarily imply that it reflects the views of the Cinema Theatre Association, its Committee or its Bulletin Editor. It is assumed that submissions are for publication, unless stated otherwise; items may be shortened or edited at the discretion of the Editor. Proposals for articles or features to appear in our annual publication Please enclose SAE and state if you require items to be returned, otherwise everything will be passed on to the CTA Archive. should be made to the editor Allen Eyles at [[email protected]] Members and non-members are reminded that they attend visits or by phoning 01444 455763. entirely at their own risk and no responsibility can be accepted by the Cinema Theatre Association or the owners of the buildings for any A researcher is still required to document programming at the accidents or injury sustained during the course of any visit. Manchester (before it became an ) to accompany a : The Cinema Theatre Association does not necessarily mass of archive material. recommend or endorse any products or services advertised in the Bulletin or in any flyer or document included in any mailings to members.

2 This visit was due to take place on Saturday 3 March, but it had to be postponed because of the adverse weather conditions. Members booked on that visit have been offered first refusal for the rescheduled visit; however some members are unable to make the new date. This means that there are some vacancies and time to re-advertise the visit to interested members (offered on a first come-first served basis).

The building was used as a municipal town hall until 1965 and in the 1960s the Assembly Hall [above] was one of the East End’s premier boxing venues. Following this, the Town Hall fell into disrepair and was unused for many years. In 2002 restoration was begun and it reo- pened in 2004, now serving as an extremely busy special events venue and for various arts projects. We then take a bus to the Grade II Listed in Dalston (Percy C Adams & George Coles (1909) / Frank Ernest Bromige (1937) arriving at 11:30am, to celebrate the recent opening of their 28-seat second screen located in the basement and also ‘hopefully’ see the completion of the renovation of the exterior with new signage and neon. We will have tea/coffee & biscuits, before entering the circle of the main auditorium at 12:00 noon to watch the cult art-house comedy film Harold and Maude starring Ruth Gordon & Bud Cort (1971, 91 mins). Following the film we take another bus to Hoxton to visit and have a guided The interior of the bingo club, Chapel End, Nuneaton tour of the Grade II* listed Based on CTA member Peter Lea’s researches for his recent publication [R] at 2:00pm. One of only two original The Auditorium: A Historical Look at Cinemas in and around North War- music halls still surviving in London wickshire, he has organised a day out for members to visit some existing (the other being of and former cinemas. Venues planned to be visited are located in Nunea- 1859). Built as in ton, Chapel End, Hinckley, Ibstock and Coalville; the latter is from Peter’s 1863 (designed by James Mortimer) it forthcoming book The Auditorium 2: Cinemas of North West Leicester- became in shire. A coach will be arranged to take us around the various locations. 1869. It lost its licence in 1871 and The itinerary is arranged to include lunch and refreshment breaks at the building became a Gospel Temper- member’s own expense. ance Mission in 1879 and then a Quaker Mission for many decades. Members should obtain their own train tickets, arriving at Nuneaton Architects Bertie Crewe and Love- station, or if travelling by car, parking is available at the adjacent car grove & Papworth made slight altera- park by the ‘Empire Gym Studio’ (former Vint’s Picturedrome). A coach tions to the building in the will meet us at the station and depart at 10:15. Suggested train early-1900s. In recent years departures times from London Euston to Nuneaton are at 07:46 has operated as a 320-seat community arts theatre. (arrive 08:54) and 08:46 (arrive 09:53); both services are direct with no changes. Our visit will be organised to catch the return train service We will also see the site of the famed . This 2,972- to London Euston departing Nuneaton at 18:36 (arrive 19:50). (Note: seat theatre became a cinema in 1923 operated by the Biocolour train times quoted are advertised at the time of going to press; these circuit and from 1929 a Gaumont operated cinema. It was destroyed should be checked prior to booking/departure). in 1940 by German bombs. We will also take a short walk to the site of the former (Lovegrove & Papworth) 1914-1956, also oper- £14.00 per member (inclusive of coach and visit notes) ated by Gaumont. The building survived until a couple of years ago Closing date: 31 May; Advance booking only: when it was planned to be renovated and reopened by the Picture- Please send your cheque made payable to ‘Cinema Theatre Associa- house chain but those plans fell through and it was demolished. tion’ enclosing SAE to Richard Norman, 4 Oakhill Lodge, Reedham Cinemas have been building a new four-screen cinema on the Drive, Purley, CR8 4DT. Enquiries tel: 020 8668 6077, email: site, which may (or may not) have opened by the time of our visit. [[email protected]]. The cost of the visit is £7.00 which includes refresh- ments and the film at the and a guided tour of . Please send a cheque (payable to Cinema theatre Association) to Ken Roe, 18a Ferndale Road, South Tottenham, London, N15 6UE to arrive no later than Saturday 30 June. Any queries? Ken can be contacted at e-mail: [[email protected]]. The closest Tube station to is Old London’s East End is fast becoming ‘the’ place to be, as its recently Street on the City Branch of the Northern Line. Leave the station via found ‘trendy & stylish’ image continues to flourish. We begin our visit Exit # 1 (Old Street East – North Side) and proceed to walk (6 minutes) at 10:30am at the magnificent Grade II listed . along Old Street and you will eventually see the l, Built in 1866 to the plans of architect Caesar Augustus Long, it was 380 Old Street, across on your right hand side. All travel on the day is described as “the grandest Vestry Hall in London”. Following damage within Zones 1 & 2. For those wishing to join the group at the by a fire in 1902, a new larger Assembly Hall, which we will be visiting, , Dalston at 11:30am, use the London Overground to Dalston was opened in 1907. It has been said that early Cinematograph Kingsland Station, turn left out of the station and the is performances were held in the hall. 100 yards up the street.

3 chance for the CTA to attend this venue could not be missed. The , independently built, be- came part of the ABC circuit during the war and after ceasing regular film shows became a con- This year’s AGM will be part of a visit to Hull, UK City of Culture 2017. cert venue, which it remains. As such the building The AGM will be held at 1:30pm for 2pm on Saturday 28 July remains very much as originally designed, little at Kardomah 94 on Alfred Gelder Street in Hull City centre. altered, grade II listed and arguably the last great Nominations for committee members are invited and should Super Cinema building to survive intact in the be sent to the Secretary, Adam Unger (address on p2) to north of England. Virtually every great pop per- arrive seven days before the meeting. The minutes of last former has graced its stage over the years and you too could stand where the Beatles performed. year’s meeting will be distributed on the day and are availa- ble now in the members’ area of the CTA website. The management have kindly agreed to let us celebrate this special There is no charge for members attending just the AGM. occasion and we are hoping to spend a few hours in the building on the afternoon of Wednesday 29 August with various opportunities for It is intended to have a walking tour of City centre venues on the entertainment. The original film projectors are still in situ and we hope Saturday morning prior to the meeting. On the Sunday it is planned to to get these operational to at least run film clips. There will be an have a bus tour of the remaining suburban cinemas and a visit to the opportunity to tour the building and we will organise a buffet style historic County Town of the East Riding, Beverley, where a new reception. This event is very much in the planning stages but I hope to Cinema opened 2 or 3 years ago. [Pictured below in August 2017.] include visits on other days, possibly to other former cinemas or buildings new to the CTA or ones we have not visited for some years. I will organise a hotel that can accommodate those who wish to travel to Manchester but we will also cater for those who want to attend the birthday day only or live locally. Full details will be in the July Bulletin; however an expression of interest would be appreciated as soon as possible and once the format is decided, those who have expressed an interest will be notified first. There may be a restriction on the number of places available. Please send your expression of interest in this event with SAE to: David Eve, Far Ends, 28 Courtenay Road, Lower Parkstone, Poole, BH14 OHD Electric Palace

We have arranged two nights’ accommodation (Friday and Saturday) at the Premier Inn on Tower Street, which is adjacent to the Old Town with its historic pubs, Minster and Museum Quarter and nearby is The Deep and the Marina. The hotel is located in the top six floors of a twelve- storey building and commands excellent views of the River Humber for miles from the Humber Bridge virtually to the North Sea. The hotel has an integral restaurant and bar area and ample secure free parking. For members who wish to participate in the weekend event as well as the AGM, the cost per person, which includes two nights’ bed and breakfast, coach tour and notes, is estimated to be £130 for a double or shared room or £185 for a single room. For further details please send SAE to David Williams at 205 New Ridley Road, Stocksfield, Northumberland NE43 7QD by 16 June. My phone number is 01661 842465 – e-mail: [[email protected]]. The AGM venue in Alfred Gelder Street is about a 12 minute walk from Hull Paragon Station. There are direct train services to Hull from many parts of the country including London.

The has recently been awarded a grant from the Herit- age Lottery Fund, which will go towards major refurbishment work of the building – see p26. During the period of closure there are exciting plans to run a on Harwich Green, starting in June. Bioscopes were travelling cinemas, common in the late 19th and early 20th Centu- ries. The CTA has been invited to Harwich on the last day of the Bioscope presentations. The bioscope will present the classic film Battleship Potemkin, a 1925 Soviet silent film directed by Sergei Eisen- stein. The film will feature live piano accompaniment by a leading pianist. It is also planned to have a ‘Hard Hat Tour’ of the but this is subject to final approval. The cost will be £10 for the film including refreshments and £10 for the tour including refreshments. Further details of the event and how to reserve tickets will be pub- lished on the CTA website or can be obtained by contacting Ray I’m planning an event to celebrate one of the last great cinemas in the Ritmeester, CTA events coordinator by email at [[email protected]] North’s eightieth birthday on 29 August. The Ardwick Manches- or by sending SAE to Ray Ritmeester, 66, Woodside Road, High Wy- ter [pictured above in March 2006] for many years the Ardwick combe, Bucks, HP13 7JB and marking the envelope ‘Electric Palace’. celebrates eighty years of entertaining Mancunians this year and a

4 Concern arises over the impact that a new multiplex in Exeter may exert upon the nearby , a structure that retains a distinctive and distinguished frontage. Fortuitously the building lies in a Conservation Following enforcement action relating to unapproved building works Area and the local Conservation Officer has agreed to liaise with the at the in Southall, the cinema was sold and the new owner is Association over any worrying proposal affecting the property. {6245} currently seeking conservation advice from various agencies, includ- Photo above taken May 2006. ing the Association. Concern arises over any strategy involving subdi- Although an application for works to the in Stoke Newington vision of the auditorium; thus progression of the plans will be closely has yet to be presented to the local Council, it is reported that some monitored. {8236} Photo above taken April 2006. construction activity has already commenced. It would be fitting if the fine auditorium by William Glen were to receive a sympathetic restora- Waltham Forest Council is to purchase the at Walthamstow tion during the building’s conversion into Hackney Arts Centre. {14878} from EMD Walthamstow LLP; this is potentially propitious news for advancement of the renovation programme. {9397} See Newsreel p23.

The proprietors of the in Slough have submitted an applica- tion for a Certificate of Immunity from Listing, to which the Association Encouragingly, the Strategic Growth Manager involved in the scheme is to object forcefully. This structure by E Norman Bailey presents an for repurposing the at Stretford has stated that the core imposing vista on an island site, which internally boasts not only a concept for the venue has changed from that of a student hub to a significant auditorium but also an elegant ballroom. {14760} format encompassing an entertainment focus. In another positive Photo above taken April 2015. change of intent, the public library will no longer relocate to the cinema. The CTA is campaigning for the auditorium to remain undivid- The ed and for the two noteworthy façades to be retained unaltered in form. {13796} Photo above taken April 2003. Projected Picture Trust

Providentially the in Upper Norwood has not been sold to a The Projected Picture Trust exists to locate and preserve projectors and developer as feared but instead to the Everyman Media Group, which related film equipment, both professional and domestic. Since 1978 intends to operate the venue as a four-screen cinema. Whilst this is enthusiastic volunteers have been happy to help restore these items welcome news, the Association is to request that the company re- and so preserve . spects the integrity of the auditorium during consideration of any The Trust provides help and assistance to non-commercial community conversion operations. See p21 last Bulletin. {28989} cinemas and museums exhibiting film related artefacts. A planning application has been approved for alterations, including The Museum of Cinema Technology has perhaps the largest collection of installation of escalators, to the in London’s Leicester Square; all types of film equipment in the UK. The Data Archive holds over 3,000 this appertains to the foyer areas, which have been drastically altered items including press cuttings, manuals and film related technical docu- during several previous interventions. See Internet Corner p10 {841} ments. We are presently looking to strengthen our management team… It is pleasing to report that the in Coalville, which closed as a PLEASE CONTACT US IF YOU ARE ABLE TO HELP bingo club at the beginning of November last, has now reopened in or if you would like to become a member only. similar operational mode. See p22 Bulletin 52/1. {23118}

5 ‘Cordex’ binders, in red leather-look effect with the magazine name embossed on the spine, are Listed below are the back numbers of Picture House that are still available for £4.30 + £3.00 postage; they are available, along with the main articles the particular issue contains. sent in a special postal carton. Each binder holds twelve copies and will not harm or Television in the Cinema; Southampton; No 6 £1.50 mark your magazines, which may be , Blackpool. taken out later if desired. No 8 £1.50 Sol Levy; Reginald Cooper; in NW London. featuring the Cinemas of George Coles No 17 £3.00 with 26 original photographs reproduced in sepia. Sydney Colwyn Foulkes; United Picture Theatres; No 18 £3.00 Wimborne. Co-operative Cinemas; Lambeth; Dursley; Cinemas that became Churches by Gavin McGrath. No 19 £3.50 Alister Macdonald; Tooting. 32 pages, A4 card covers, illustrated. £4.50 plus postage. 100 Years On; Travelling Shows; Reggie Rea; No 21 £3.50 Sheffield; Wells; West End Adverts; Scotland. by Alan Phillips. 130 pages, A5 paperback, illustrated. £6.99 plus postage. Oldest Cinema (Brighton); FE Bromige; Gaumont Manag- No 25 £4.50 ers; Swansea; Committee's Choice. Newcastle; Edward Stone; Granada Men; No 26 £4.50 The Fall of the American Movie Theater by Matt Lambros E de Wilde Holding; Portobello Road. 208 pages, hardback landscape, fully illustrated in colour New ; Bristol; Clark & Fenn; No 27 £4.50 £29.99 plus postage. Compton Organs; Tim Foster Associates. No 28 £4.50 James McKissack; WJ King; ; Tabs. Cinerama in Britain; Braziers the Builders; John Fernée; For books and other items please add £3.00 for post and packing for No 29 £4.50 Waller Jeffs; John Duffin’s paintings. orders up to £30.00 in value; £6.00 for orders from £30.01 to £40.00 The Davis Family, Croydon; Hammersmith Organ; and £11.00 for orders above £40.01. No 30 £5.00 Norwich Roadshows. Orders to Jeremy Buck, CTA Sales, 34, Pelham Road, London, N22 Special 84-page edition: – A Family Business: No 31 £7.50 6LN. Cheques/POs payable to Cinema Theatre Association, or send Sol Sheckman and the Circuit. credit/debit card number with expiry date and security code. A com- Harry Myers Photographs; Cinemas at the Coalface; No 32 £5.00 plete sales list is available by sending an SAE or can be seen on the Shaws of Darwen: Edward A Stone. CTA website [www.cta-uk.org] where you can also place your order. Theodore Komisarjevsky; Circuit & other releases of 1956; No 33 £5.00 using PayPal. A sales list is sent with every order. The case for saving the Bradford. Birmingham; Tooting in 1934; No 34 £5.00 Rank in post-war Scotland; J Braddon’s Cinema life. Holophane lighting; Imitations of ; Cradley Records; No 35 £5.00 1909 Cinematograph Act; Kingston Showmanship. The feature-length documentary The Leslie Kemp; The Circuit; Jeremy Perkins on Final Reel (PG, 94 mins) directed by No 36 £6.00 Brighton; Circuit Releases of 1960. Norfolk-based film maker Jonathan Blagrove, which screened at the CTA’s No 37 £8.50 Special 92-page issue; saving the Harwich. 50th birthday celebrations at the Northern Morris Associated Cinemas; Milton Keynes; back in January No 38 £6.00 Going to the Cinema in Birmingham; Conwy; Haymarket; Military Cinemas; Cinema Murders. 2017, is having a UK wide DVD re- lease from 30 April. WWI and the Film Trade; Tale of Two ; North No 39 £6.00 Finchley; Oxford; Films at the . The film, narrated by the late Sir John Euston; Michael Stringer memories; West End in Hurt CBE, tells the story of our nation’s No 40 £6.00 the 1950s; Stafford Entertainments; Will Onda & James love affair with the cinema. From the Atroy; Stephen Waddingham – a man. days of travelling showmen to the era CTA’s 50th Anniversary; Stockport; of the multiplex, the film uses the Nor- No 41 £6.00 Rayners Lane; Leeds; Pascal J Stienlet. folk area as a microcosm of the bigger Elephant & Castle, Crosby; Lewes; picture. Featuring a mix of fascinating No 42 £6.00 Chelsea; Sheffield Figures. interviews, archive material and actuality, The Final Reel is an enter- taining and sometimes moving portrait of cinema history in Norfolk There are also available a few second-hand copies of out-of-print issues and a snapshot of cinema-going in the UK today. 9, 10, 14/15, 16, 20, 22, 23 & 24, priced £5.00 each, plus postage. The trailer can be viewed at [vimeo.com/174196220] A list of their contents was printed on p4 of Bulletin 52/2 or can be obtained by SAE or email from the Sales Officer or Bulletin Editor. The DVD is retailing at £11.99 from [Amazon.co.uk], HMV and direct from the website of distributor Time Reel [www.timereel.co.uk]. Alter- natively copies can be purchased direct from Coda Films by sending We can supply back numbers of most Bulletins from Volume 21 a cheque for £13.39 (including £1.40 postage) made payable to Coda (1987) to date. Prices for issues from 1987 to 2016 are £4.00 per Films Ltd at 7 St Gregory’s Alley, Norwich, NR2 1ER. year (6 issues); individual issues are £1.00 each. Prices for issues in 2017 and 2018 are £4.00 per copy. All prices include postage. There A journey around 92 London Variety theatres, inspired by JO Blake. are some issues available from earlier years, 1967 to 1986 – please Compiled and illustrated by Nicholas Charlesworth, foreword by John send enquiries to the Sales Officer. Earl, edited by David F Cheshire. Limited edition of 700 copies. 528 pages, including 48 in colour. £40 UK, including postage. Order on-line from [www.vaudeville-postcards.com] or from RNR Charlesworth, 39 Clay Close, Ditton Marsh, Westbury, BA13 4DU

6 First published in 1996 to celebrate the centenary of cinema in the UK. In this fully revised edition, the text has been completely th To celebrate our 50 anniversary year, we have arranged limited- rewritten and expanded and there are extra photographs, 10 in edition reprints of these two popular books, giving members who full colour. Of particular interest is the 24-page gazetteer of cinema didn’t purchase them originally the chance to add them to their buildings, telling the reader what there is to see in most places collection at reasonable prices. The books sold out soon after in the UK. There are useful appendices about listed cinemas, a they were published and do not often come up on the second- glossary of architectural terms and a comprehensive bibliography. hand market at an affordable price. These reprints are only available from the CTA Sales Officer.

First published in 1993, this is the story of how Associated British Cinemas became the largest single chain of picture houses in the UK, selling some 6 million tickets a week at its peak. The book examines the creation of the circuit, describes the cinemas, which were purpose-built to the designs of WR Glen and others, Details of these events are given in good faith but the editor or the CTA acquisitions of existing cine- cannot be responsible for any inaccuracies; please check before travelling. mas, the booking policy, live PLAZA shows and organ interludes, the George Formby Double [U] Bill at 2:30pm & 7:30pm response to 3-D and Cine- Let George do it and Turned Out Nice Again (1940) presented in 35mm. maScope, the decline in attend- Tully (2018) [15] at 11am ances leading to subdivision Cabaret (1972) [15] at 7:30pm and the first step into the multi- Organ Coffee Morning at 10am admission free plex era. There is a detailed list- Funny Cow (2017) [15] at 3pm & 7:30pm ing of more than 600 cinemas that were part of the ABC chain The Shape of Water (2017) [15] at 11am & 7:30pm and the titles of all the main films given an ABC release from Hampstead (2017) [12A] at 11am 1937 to 1979, plus an array of rare illustrations of cinemas and Alfred Hitchcock double bill [PG] at 7:30pm company advertising. PLUS – a newly written introduction by Allen The Lodger (1927 silent) & Blackmail (1929 sound) Eyles, highlighting developments since the book was written, Some Like It Hot (1959) [12] at 2:30pm & 7:30pm including the short-lived return of the ABC name. Finding Your Feet (2017) [12A] at 11am 164 pages, paperback, fully illustrated Book Club (2018) [18 TBC] at 11am £17.50 plus £3 postage. Bringing Up Baby (1938) [U] at 7:30pm Wings (1927) [PG] with organ accompaniment Behind the Scenes tours at 11am on Mondays 21 May, 25 June & First published in 1996 and reprinted in 1999, this book tells the 30 July. £7 – book or simply turn up. story of how Gaumont cinemas formed one of the three national circuits in Britain during the boom years of picture-going. Gener- Box Office: 0161 477 7779; website [www.stockportplaza.co.uk] ously illustrated with photo- graphs of the cinemas, as well Michael Caine in Going in Style (2017) [12A] as examples of advertising and plus Laurel & Hardy in The Music Box publicity, this book recalls the Silent Films: Charlie Chaplin in The Pawnbroker (1916), history of the circuit as well as Buster Keaton in Our Hospitality (1916) the formation and often turbu- plus a talk Music and the Silent Clowns. lent life of its parent company, Shows on Sundays at 2:30pm at the Wymondham Ex-Service’s Club Gaumont-British. Besides the (former cinema) NR18 0AT [tinyurl.com/zddvkq4]. style of the cinemas it describes Further information from Michael Armstrong [01953 603246] how they were operated, how the chain became part of the J Arthur Rank Empire and how its At the 490 Commercial Road, London, E1 0HX identity was slowly whittled away until its name in Britain was Tuesday 24 July at 7:00pm – Nicholas Martin consigned to memory. Included is a detailed listing of more than information: [www.cinema-organs.org.uk] 400 cinemas that were part of the circuit and the titles of all the 15 September – 24 March 2019 films given a Gaumont release from 1932 onwards. The ‘reel’ story of your local cinemas. 224 pages, paperback, fully illustrated, Discover the rise of Bexley’s many cinemas since the first opened in £17.50 plus £3 postage. 1912 and how the changing nature of Britain through the decades threatened their survival. You can even find out about Bexley’s place on the silver screen. At Hall Place, Bexley. Admission charged. [www.hallplace.org.uk] Please add £3.00 to your order for post and packing Please send cheque/postal order payable to Cinema Theatre Association to the Sales Officer, Jeremy Buck, 34 Pelham Road, London, N22 6LN, OR send credit/debit card details, in- cluding number, expiry date and security code, OR order online through the CTA website: [www.cta-uk.org/shop] where you can order using Paypal.

7 THE CINEMA THEATRE ASSOCIATION Company limited by guarantee No. 4428778: Registered Charity No. 1100702

Turnover 2018 2017

Draft Profit and Loss Account for Members’ subscriptions £ 29,530 £ 28,594 the period from 1st March 2017 to Members’ payments for visits and events £ 10,517 £ 15,294 28th February 2018 Income from sales £ 3,868 £ 3,822

£ 43,916 £ 47,710 Cost of memberships

Cost of CTA Bulletin £ 17,217 £ 17,196

Cost of Picture House £ 4,549 £ 4,672

Cost of sales £ 1,983 £ 2,007

Cost of visits and events £ 15,498 £ 6,705

£ 39,246 £ 30,580 Gross profit £ 4,670 £ 17,130

Other income

Donations £ 4,698 £ 4,836

GiftAid on subscriptions and donations £ 6,083 £ 5,841

Legacies £ 11,850 £ 59,194

£ 22,631 £ 69,871

Administrative expenses

Archive costs £ 25,195 £ 19,164

Casework costs £ 12,335 £ 11,493

Other costs £ 8,498 £ 9,152

Donations to restoration groups £ 0 £ 900

£ 46,027 £ 40,709

Operating surplus/(deficit) £ (18,726) £ 46,292

Interest receivable £ 2,241 £ 2,790 Surplus/(deficit) on ordinary activities £ (16,485) £ 49,082

Draft Balance Sheet as at 28 Feb 2018 28 Feb 2017 28th February 2018 CURRENT ASSETS & LIABILITIES

Book stock at Director’s valuation £ 13,153 £ 13,333

Cash at Bank £ 200,623 £ 217,108

M&G Charibond (at net cost) £ 49,419 £ 49,419

NET CURRENT ASSETS £ 263,195 £ 279,860

RESERVES

Current assets brought forward at 1st March £ 279,860 £ 232,455

Surplus (deficit) for current period £ (16,485) £ 49,082

Change in value of book stock due to sales £ (180) £ (1,677)

TOTAL RESERVES AT 28th FEBRUARY £ 263,195 £ 279,860

This statement has been prepared to give members information on the financial position of the Association and, as the full accounts have yet to be approved by our accountant, may differ in detail from the final position. The Accounts which are presented for the approval of the Directors at their AGM and filed with Companies House and the Charity Commission are less detailed. However fully detailed accounts, as presented to members at the CTA AGM, will available as a PDF on the members’ area of the CTA website in advance of the date of the AGM.

8 The ‘where’ debate covers a great breadth of ground. There is a The CTA’s AGM at the ‘Memo’ in Newbridge in 2017 was the most geographical angle. Does it have to be in or near London? Could it not dynamic in recent memory. A question from the floor concerning the be moved to the English midlands or north, where it might be accessi- use of legacy funds launched a wide-ranging, important discussion that ble to members and researchers from outside the south-east? There brought in the future of the archive and pointed towards the future of is the investment angle. Should we be looking to buy premises, with a the CTA itself. Your Committee has continued the debate since the view to using them as a base as well as for the archive, perhaps ideally AGM. While the business of the AGM will be recorded in the minutes, in a former cinema? Isn’t renting or leasing just a drain on resources my purpose here is to report on subsequent development of the without return? The issues are complex and the Committee has discussion before we convene for this year’s AGM on 28 July in Hull. formed the Archive Working Group to think them through, to take evidence and to try to come up with the best compromise. First, though, it has been a long time since our policy for use of legacy funds was set out in the Bulletin so that bears repeating. When Tom Though it might seem ungenerous to those whose bequests have now Ruben unexpectedly and generously bequeathed a substantial sum to amounted to a very substantial sum, a very substantial sum becomes the Association in 2011 the Committee met to discuss how the less so when applied to property. We presently hold just over windfall might be used. It resolved that legacies should not be used to £210,000 in our legacies fund. That is a lot of money unless you are subsidise the day-to-day business of the Association, usually funded looking to buy a building. Sadly, it is not enough when the location, from subscriptions and other routine income. The legacy funds should condition and maintenance of that building have to be factored in. It be used to invest in the future, for development of the Association’s would easily be possible to buy a semi-derelict building in a remote membership, aims and objectives and on projects that otherwise location well within that notional budget. But then the critical issues could not have been afforded. The first major project to be paid for would arise of accessibility and maintenance. from Tom Ruben’s bequest was our new website, which has been Accessibility is a contentious issue. The UK’s rail network is to a great much used, much admired and is substantially future-proofed insofar extent radial and focussed on London. While Birmingham or Derby or as it has been designed and built with the intention, one day, of Leeds or Manchester might be seen as hubs too, the facts remain that bolting the digitised parts of our archive on to it. London is accessible from everywhere and a gravitational mass of The investment value of our casework is that through research to both CTA membership and potential research users of the archive are support proposals for listing we aim to ensure the future of cinema located in the south east of England. It is also relevant that our buildings that might otherwise be lost. We have no power ourselves Archivist and his regular helpers are in the south-east. The CTA cannot and, despite many years’ lobbying for the status, we are not a statuto- act as a major industrial employer might and just leave its volunteer ry consultee in planning cases involving cinema buildings (unlike the staff behind and re-recruit. That is not something that we would want Theatres Trust, which was constituted by Act of Parliament and is a to do, morally and nor is it practical. So the present thinking of the statutory consultee in any planning matter concerning a theatre build- Archive Working Group and Committee is to try to stay in the London ing). The best that we can do is to make the strongest possible cases area, a criterion having been developed that this means within a at district, county and national decision-making levels. The research one-hour train travel radius from a London terminus. and administrative efforts involved in making properly founded listing The Working Party has examined the relative benefits of owning submissions are labour-intensive and our caseworker’s time is cov- versus renting accommodation. Several members have expressed the ered from legacy funds. view that owning an asset is preferable to renting. Owning bricks and The new, substantial and unplanned draw on our legacy fund is the mortar might even encourage further donations and legacies and that cost of temporary accommodation for our archive. The archive had is a good and valid point. On the other hand, owning bricks and mortar been located for six years at a sustainable cost in a unit in a light brings liabilities as well as benefits. Building maintenance is potential- industrial and studio complex near Walthamstow. Suddenly, at short ly a substantial cost. Insurance, security, heat and light, Internet notice, we learned in June 2015 that our lease was to be terminated. connection, cleaning and business rates would all add to it (as a The building was to be converted to flats under the government’s new registered charity we can seek some relief from rates). With the permitted development rules. We had to move in a hurry and in those relatively small capital sum (in property terms) at our disposal the circumstances the only practicable solution was to rent storage units. outright purchase option is probably unrealistic if we are to stay in the The urgency was such that there was no alternative to drawing on the south-east. And were we to go to a low property value area, the archive legacy fund. Since then the rental cost of those units has risen far would almost certainly be beyond easy travel reach of the necessary faster than inflation and has reached a point where it is not sustaina- volunteer base needed to maintain it. ble. We must find a solution. That leads to the rental or lease option. The benefits of being a tenant A question raised in last year’s debate was whether, if we cannot are that the costs of occupation are foreseeable and the potentially sustainably accommodate it, we should hold on to the archive at all. unknown and substantial one of maintenance is the landlord’s re- The options could include handing it over to a university or institution. sponsibility. Of course, all of the costs mentioned above still apply but The Committee has discussed this option and rejected it. Even if a are shared among tenants and charged as a service charge. suitable and willing recipient could be identified, other organisations We and many other occupiers of low-cost office accommodation in (my own professional institute among them) have found that their London and the south-east are finding that the loss under ‘permitted access to their own material can be seriously curtailed even if they development’ to low-grade but more lucrative residential occupation retain legal ownership of it. We need to retain control over access. is resulting in a deficit and therefore a huge increase in the cost of The archive underpins a very great deal of what the Association does. such office space. Those of us in that sector have been hit with a It informs casework. It provides the basis for visit notes. It is the ‘double whammy’: the loss of security of tenure and an increase in primary source for a great deal of research that ends up in articles in rent for what’s left. Clive Polden, our archivist, has undertaken a Picture House and in books in our field of interest. Our archive can be heroic property search across Surrey, East Sussex, Kent, eastern seen as a hub around which the whole organisation revolves. In the Hertfordshire and Essex and assessed all the properties available longer term, the archive could become the CTA’s principal reason for through commercial agents in those counties early in 2018. The existing. As the number of active or former cinema buildings of historic results have pointed to Southend as a low-cost office location meeting interest declines, our records become increasingly more important. our criteria. We are actively focussing on Southend and evaluating Ours is by far the largest and most complete national archive in its options there. specialist area and we have a duty to maintain it. It is not hard to see A further key factor in what we do is that the archive is now far too large how that in the future its maintenance, including accessions, digitisa- to be moved by volunteers. The cost of professional movers is itself tion, sharing and propagating could become central to our being. substantial. We cannot afford to move the archive too often and in our Accepting that the archive is not only fundamental but also our most present search for a lease or license to rent we are looking for a term of demanding expense, how to put it onto a sustainable footing? The five years or more. Our Treasurer, Neville Taylor, has undertaken a primary problem is where to accommodate it. The second is how we careful analysis of our resources and liabilities and has calculated a might generate income from it. sustainably affordable premium. The disadvantage of moving in to 9 leased accommodation will be that we do not acquire an asset. Howev- er, on the other hand, the sustainability of the ongoing cost through the lease term will relieve the draw presently made on the legacy fund. We have thought carefully about the Archive’s potential to deliver income, perhaps even to the extent of being self-sustainable. The With the opening of the cinema on St Ann’s Well Road hard reality is that few publishing or broadcasting organisations today yesterday, Nottingham gains a place of amusement worthy to take its have budgets that can bear substantial costs. The ubiquity of ‘free’ place beside any of the existing theatres. It has been designed by Mr material on the web, the radical change in the economics of book Alfred Thraves, of Victoria Street, an architect who has had a great publication, the diversification of broadcasting and compression of deal of experience in planning such buildings and with an ample site ‘special interest’ documentary-making all mean that there is little at his disposal, Mr Thraves has been able to plan a building that demand at any realistically revenue-generating rates for the kind of combines ample accommodation with artistry. material that we can offer. We can and will make charges for the use of archive resources but the chances of that revenue covering more In a delightful speech at the opening, the Lord Mayor said that pleas- than a token element in the archive’s costs are slim indeed. ure was a very important and necessary part of the life of very healthy men and women. Everyone ought to have a reasonable amount of Are there any other options? We have considered and will maintain enjoyment. Otherwise what was life? Was it worth living? He thought active interest in other solutions but these are less easy to realise. First, that the cinema was one of the best forms of enjoyment. Compared there is the possibility of collaborating with another organisation. To with the vivid presentation of life on the screen, the printed page did that end we have been in touch with the Cinema Museum but it, itself, not make the same appeal to the tired man and woman. Not everybody is going through an agonising period of uncertainty as to its future. We had the time to wade through long novels but on the screen in half or have spoken to the Projected Picture Trust but there does not seem to three quarters of an hour it was possible to get as vivid a presentation be a realistic possibility of sharing their accommodation. In the longer of events, of character and of appearances as it was possible to have. term it might be possible to ally with a heritage organisation in building He congratulated the architect of the new building on his design and a resource but that really is a long-term prospect and the need for a was delighted to think that thousands of Nottingham citizens would be sustainable short-term solution for our archive is pressing. able to enjoy their leisure in such excellent surroundings. Finally, there is the lottery. One of the reasons for seeking (successful- In his reply Alderman Huntsman said that his presence there had the ly) charitable status for the CTA was to open up the possibility of approval of Earl Jellicoe, who when he said to him today at luncheon access to Heritage Lottery funding. Our archive clearly falls within the HLF’s remit. However, competition for HLF grants is fierce and the that he was going to open a cinema, said that as he was doing reality is that to be successful in applying for a substantial grant now something for the good of the people, he would certainly excuse him. requires an immense amount of time and effort. Another heritage The Lord Mayor announced that the directors of the had organisation with which I am involved was granted a very substantial decided to devote the whole of the first day’s proceeds to Nottingham sum by the HLF in 2015. The tasks first of applying for it and then of charities. {36923} accounting for its expenditure to release staged payments were taken Nottingham Journal – 30 October 1928; sent in by David A Ellis on by a recently retired member with the relevant expertise and time in what became effectively a two-year, unpaid but full-time job. The Western Daily Press understands that the , the If there is someone among the CTA’s members who is prepared to , the and the step forward and take a similar role I would dearly love to hear from , Fishponds are now under the control of Associated British them! Meanwhile, we need to hear any positive suggestion that any Cinemas Ltd. Mr K Duffy, manager of the told a West- member might have. Contact Clive Polden, our Archivist, Ian Meyrick, ern Daily Press reporter that the organisation owns 150 cinemas and our Vice-Chairman, or myself if you have a contribution to make the object of Mr John Maxwell, the chairman, is to produce British (contact details on page 2). films with British artists taking part. The organisation make their films at Elstree and distribute them to their own chain of cinemas and other cinemas throughout the country. The and the in Bath come under their control. Western Daily Press - 7 May 1930; sent in by David A Ellis � [londonist.com/london/history/london-s-lost-cinemas] some London buildings that used to be cinemas. Lord Aberdare, honorary advisor to Mr J Arthur Rank on children’s � [tinyurl.com/y7hdummk] A page from the Teesside Gazette on cinema clubs, wants Westerns and serials axed and the standard of 12 buildings that used to be cinemas. entertainment raised. He said, “Most Westerns have long dialogues, � [tinyurl.com/y8sh5d7l] A Wales Online page about the former to which children do not listen.” There are 406 Saturday children’s Resolven. Photos and a short video. {26643} clubs in the Odeon and Gaumont-British cinema circuits, with mem- � [tinyurl.com/y7rbmtmd] 28-days-later Urban Explorers have bership of nearly 400,000 children. been inside the former Bristol, which is currently being Daily Mail – 22 March 1949; Sent in by Geoff Gill converted into student flats. Sent in by Alan Hodson. � [tinyurl.com/ycvfq5oz] An interesting account of a Nottingham Blackpool’s cinemas have clamped down on Teddy Boys. Commis- cinema attendant’s daily grind. The author is anonymous but I sionaires have been given strict instructions to keep out youths wear- guess he/she works at . Sent in by Terry Hanstock. ing fancy Edwardian dress or anything similar, such as long jackets � [Cinemausherettes.com] The history of the cinema usherette. and stove-pipe trousers. At the and the notices posted outside the cash desks read, “By order of the management, � [tinyurl.com/ybjuspc6] A designboom website “vibrant façades any person wearing Edwardian clothes or similar dress will not be animate movie theater architecture in south India” admitted to this theatre.” Mr Harold Worsley, manager of the , � [tinyurl.com/y9q8bcr6] A Pinterest page on Cinemas in Dublin in said yesterday, “We have had to take this drastic action because of the late 70s early 80s (requires registration). hooliganism during the performances. People were complaining.” � [tinyurl.com/ydcjfedd] A Wales Online page with photos of some Since posting the notice, we have turned away several Teddy Boys. lost cinemas of Wales. Above 3 items sent in by Gavin McGrath. They have not given us any trouble when told to stay out.” � [www.8build.co.uk/project/leicester-square] The contractor’s At the , the manager Mr Peter Buckland-Large has imposed page on work at the . Sent in by Geoff Gill. a six-month ban on Teddy Boys who have been removed from the cinema. “I can remember their faces,” he said yesterday. “I had to call � [tinyurl.com/y9vgsjvt] Variety magazine’s report on the refurbish- the police one night to quell a disturbance. I’m the one who decides ment of the . whether a youth is wearing Edwardian dress or not. My decision is final!” � [www.westminster.gov.uk] To view the planning application for At the and cinemas, there are no warning notices the click on “Planning applications and but staff have been told to refuse admission to flashily dressed youths. decisions” then “search applications” and enter the reference Yorkshire Post – 31 December 1954; sent in by David A Ellis number 17/07604/FULL. Above 2 items sent in by John West. 10 LUXOR

1942 and they still kept the name. In March 1945 it reverted back to the name on the canopy. The was built for around £25,000. It was said there were four dressing rooms for occasional stage shows. However, Sir Sydney says he doesn’t remem- The Lancing in March 2009 {35057} ber there being any dressing rooms. The chief operator was a Mr The Lancing in West Sussex designed by W Frazer Frank Chipperfield. Granger was built opposite the station. It opened on 17 January 1940 At the opening Mr Fortesque and the with the famous Crazy Gang starring in the feature Frozen Limits. The manager Mr WJ Kirk were in the foyer opening should have been earlier but was delayed due to shortages of greeting guests. Twenty months after material. There should have been a ballroom but this never opened. Sir it had opened, a short article stated Sydney Samuelson CBE, who went on to become the first British Film that Mr Fortesque managed the cine- Commissioner, tells me that the ship carrying material for it was sunk ma himself and was always available by a German U-Boat. The ballroom area became a store room. The to meet any member of the public. He cinema had seating for 998; of those, 800 were in the stalls. The would welcome suggestions and criti- proscenium was thirty six feet wide and the stage was twenty feet deep. cism. Mr Kirk had left by then for the Up in the projection room were two Ernemann 7 projectors, the last pair services. Later, a Mr Alfred G Leavers imported from Germany before the war. The sound was Western Elec- DCM managed the theatre. Following tric Mirrorphonic, which was only the seventh to be installed in the Mr Leavers’ departure in April 1946, county at the time. It was also stated that the cinema was the only Mr Kirk made a return. theatre in Sussex fitted with Western Electric deaf aid equipment. The foyer was covered in linoleum of a blue marble design with a two- There were to be shops at the side of the building. These didn’t open tone border effect and interior decorations were MarbleCote sprayed red at the beginning because of material shortages; instead they were and gold over cream. Carpets throughout had a flame background with used to place posters. Ninety-two year old Sir Sydney, who joined the an ultra-modern pattern in green, black and gold. The front stage cur- cinema as a fourth projectionist or rewind boy at fourteen, has fond tains were in various shades of gold velour, with a shaped appliquéd memories of the cinema and tells me, when the doorman was called pelmet. Other curtains were a pair of draped drawn curtains in pale gold up for duty he took over the job of bill posting and putting letters on and the rear stage pair silver festooned with borders and side legs. the canopy as well as projection. On one occasion he ran out of the It was stated that green and silver were the notes of other draperies letter L and made the letter up using cardboard and painting it red. and covering a horizontal series of windows at the side of the audito- The cinema opened its doors for the first time at 2pm for a 3pm start. rium was a curtain of attractive shape with appliquéd design. The The opening was performed by a Mr E Pearce, an aircraft man. He just front and rear curtains of the stage were controlled from the operating said, “I declare this theatre open.” Opening prices of admission were box and the stage. The cinema was from 9d to 1/6. There was car park and cycle accommodation and the taken over by the H Bentley circuit in telephone number was Lancing 3000. The Worthing Herald dated 24 1946 and by Shipman and King in December 1943 reported that around six hundred members of the 1952. Live shows came to an end by Lancing Home Guard were invited with their families to a free screen- 1957 but films continued to be ing of Oh Mr Porter. A collection raised over twenty pounds for the screened until 26 June 1965. The last prisoners of war fund. film projected was Splendor in the The cinema was an independent hall built by FT Wilson and Son from Grass. After movies it was bingo. Eyes Brighton and run by a Mr Basil Fortesque under Luxor (Lancing) Ltd. Down continued until the early 1980s. Fortesque had been in the cinema business for twenty three years The auditorium part of the building and had been connected with several cinemas, including the was demolished and flats were built. Dover. He also leased the Lancing in 1939, which had been the The frontage was retained. . It had 654 seats and had a proscenium width of twenty feet and the stage was twelve feet deep. It also had two dressing rooms and BTH projection equipment. Two months after the opened, the closed and was reopened again on 16 October 1941, still retaining the name . To celebrate the reopening, every tenth person was admitted free. operated it again from 30 August

The / Lancing in about 1934 {35056} 11 We are normally used to seeing our beloved buildings as bricks and mortar, or preserved for posterity on glossy or matt finish photos or even a computer-held JPEG or PNG. In this article I have focused on those that have been turned into art and they look even more delight- ful. So sit back and enjoy with a bag of popcorn in one hand and a Dixie Cup in the other.

bingo-hall and a ballroom and was famously the Town and Country Club for most of the eighties. In 1992 it survived a plan for redevelop- ment by the then landlords Folgate Estates but the Club closed in March 1993. Later that year Mean Fiddler took on the lease with films ’s jewel in the crown was surely the on Hamilton Road. of a musical nature returning to the former cinema in 1995 under the The 2,250-seater was designed by John McBride Neill with a ballroom Silver Screen Cinema Club banner. The MAMA group took over the attached and opened in July 1936. A Compton 3-Manual/8-Rank lease in 2007, on whose watch was the weekly party event known as organ was installed. The cinema’s operators included Bangor Cine- The Church and refurbished the building in 2009 when it became mas Ltd, Odeon Theatres (Ireland) Ltd and the Scott Brothers. Among known as the . The current operator is Live Nation, part of the big names to have done concerts there were the Bay City Rollers, the Academy Music Group, which has rebranded the venue the Glen Campbell and Van Morrison, the last entertainers being Cannon . Notable artists who have appeared there over the years in- and Ball. The Grade II-listed building screened its last film in October clude Chic featuring Nile Rodgers, Kasabian and the Manic Street 1983. It was damaged by fire in June 1992 and was later demolished, Preachers. The building is Grade II listed. with a retirement home now occupying the site. The painting itself is by Gareth Hunter.

The in Lower Cross Street, Larne was opened in October 1953 The in Coulgate Street, Brockley opened in by Malcolm Wilson, although it is more commonly associated with the September 1913 and was designed by Drury, Gomersall & Parker. It Penney family, who took over at the end of the 1950s. It was not changed its name to the in May 1915 and again in 1929 to purpose-built but a conversion of some sort of store. Following closure the and was renovated in 1936. It was renamed the in at the end of May 1970, a leisure centre with disco was proposed but 1942 and closed as a cinema in March 1956, the company having it is not apparent whether this ever came to be. The building was later been voluntarily wound up. The building was demolished in 1960 and demolished for retail. replaced with a garage but the site is now home to apartments. The former is a rather distinctive building at The on Highgate Road in was designed by J the corner of Grosvenor Street and Oxford Road near to Manchester City Stanley Beard with WR Bennett responsible for the interior design. It Centre. It was designed by Percy Hothersall and is decorated with green opened as a 2,175-seater in December 1934 with comedian Sydney and cream tiles lined with porthole windows and crowned with a domed Howard doing the honours. The frontage is of black stone and cream recess above the entrance. The cinema opened in May 1915 and was faience with a series of columns over the entrance and has a striking part of the Moorhouse circuit for some time. The Star circuit took it over resemblance to that of its sister building in Ealing. There were Italian in the 1960s but it was reduced to showing either sex or horror movies influences to the cinema with the safety curtain depicting a scene and closed in May 1968. It promptly opened for bingo the following from a forum in Rome. It was taken over by in 1935 and renamed week and was later a Riley’s snooker club. In the 1990s it opened as in 1963. Following closure as a cinema in July 1970 it became a the Footage and Firkin pub, although it is now just The Footage, run by

12 the Stonegate Pub Company. As it is within spitting distance of the University it is largely frequented by students who are attracted by the cheap beer, pool tables and Sky Sports on the large plasma screens. Adjacent to the castle in Swansea is the former in Much of the original interior survives today, despite the presence of a Worcester Place, situated on a steep hillside location. It opened in jovial atmosphere among the punters. In September 2014 it reopened December 1913 and, apart from screening adult films in the 1960s, after a £360,000 refurbishment to take it into the digital age. The had a fairly insignificant life and was renamed the in 1982. building was designated a Grade II listed structure in 1974. It closed as a cinema in October 1991 and was turned into Jungle Jim’s children’s playground, which opened in March 1992. It later became a Laser Zone venue, which still occupies the building today. A redevelopment proposal for a shopping centre linked to Parc Tawe has been on the table for at least 20 years but one thing standing in its way is the fact that the building is Grade II listed.

The in Talbot Road opened in March 1940 and has a cream-tiled faience rather like the appearance of a traditional Odeon. It was originally run by the Woodavon Cinema Company and had 1,467 seats. Films went part-time in 1980 owing to bingo and went off the menu completely in 1983 but after only two years on bingo, films returned in October 1985. The following few years saw it transformed John Burnet, Tait and Partners designed the former , into a four-screen picture house, which lasted until January 1999, which was part of the Wingate House development on Shaftesbury when it closed as a result of the multiplex opening the month Avenue in London’s West End. It opened in February 1959 with 735 before. The building has remained empty ever since, despite being seats and was situated underground with the bar one floor down and purchased by the local authority in 2009. It was Grade II listed in 2000. the auditorium on the following one. The film Lolita had a Gala Première here in 1962 and The Competition had a Royal Charity Première in June 1981 in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen and Join the the Duke of Edinburgh. Columbia sold the lease to Cannon, who ran it as the from August 1982 then briefly as the in 1984 CINEMA ORGAN SOCIETY until its closure for refurbishment that November. It reopened as the in March 1985 and was divided into three screens during 1998, totalling 502 seats, reopening in October that year. It is now known as the and appeared to be on firm footing a Bi-monthly newsletter a Quarterly glossy magazine a until December 2014, when it was announced that the site was going to be earmarked as part of the Crossrail 2 project. A campaign to save the cinema was started, backed by Benedict Cumberbatch and Stephen Fry – and in the meantime it shows no signs of moving. Concert news Conventions Private practice Record reviews Social events Open console meetings Ards and North Down Borough Council Organised visits Workshops Recorded music evenings ( ); Lewisham Local History and Archives ( ); Chris Gilbert Art ( ); For membership details and sample publications contact Peter Topping [www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk] ( David Shepherd, COS Membership Secretary ); Dolby House, Barrington Gate, Holbeach, Spalding, PE12 7DA David Clark [www.painters-online.co.uk/artist/londinius] ( ), or email [email protected] Nick Holly [www.nickholly.com] and John Duffin [www.johnduffin.co.uk] ( ). The images are by the artists themselves except where stated.

13 Hundreds of people enjoyed a final visit to a former cinema before it is moved brick by brick to the open-air museum at Beamish in County Durham. The welcomed around 500 people during three community days, before it is deconstructed and trans- ported 15 miles from Ryhope, in Sunderland, to Beamish. will be restored to its former glory and preserved for future genera- tions, as part of a 1950s Town, in our £18million Remaking Beamish project. There was so much interest in our community event that we had to extend it to three days. Visitors included former staff and customers of , who took an often emotional journey down memory lane. They shared their fantastic stories, including how they met their future husband or wife there or childhood family outings. Geraldine Straker, Remaking Beamish Community Participation Offic- er, said: “We’re really excited to be bringing brick by brick to Beamish, where it will be restored to become a working 1950s cinema. “We’re working with the people of Ryhope to tell the story of their heritage as part of the Remaking Beamish project so we were delighted to welcome so many members of the community The interior of back to the cinema for one last time before it is deconstructed. It was fantastic to have such an amazing response.” People visited the cinema regularly. Bill recalls: “People worked hard , which was built in 1912, closed in the 1960s and later all day, in the mining areas before the demise of the pits etc and when became a bingo hall but is no longer in use and was donated to the five-o’clock came, or the end of the shift, there was only the radio museum by Angela and Gary Hepple. Beamish is also working with the basically in the early 50s and you were lucky if you could afford a TV. community on a film project about Ryhope’s heritage and the decon- was like being in a palace, a palace of dreams. You could struction of the cinema. Geraldine added: “We’ve had a really great have up to 10 choices of films a week. You had musicals, westerns, response to the film project. There was a big turnout to the first meeting action movies and the likes of here, which was three and people had some excellent ideas to share. We are pleased to be changes a week, you would have the same people bringing their working with people in and around Ryhope to record the story of families maybe three times a week to the cinema.” After leaving Ryhope and the taking down of the cinema.” Thanks to the money school in 1955, Bill worked at the in Bedford Street, raised by National Lottery players, the Remaking Beamish project has Sunderland, then the in Dawdon. He went into been awarded £10.9million by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). cinema management, working around the country and eventually owned cinemas in Irvine, Ayrshire and Horden, County Durham, before retiring in 2003. Bill has been sharing his knowledge of with Beamish’s design team, including the appearance and location of objects and features of the building.

Bill Mather [L] with Beamish staff in 1950s costume

Setting foot in , Bill Mather’s face is beaming – he is back in the 1950s, back in his “Palace of Dreams”. As he looks around the now-empty auditorium, the cinema’s heyday is alive for Bill. He can Bill Mather [centre] with Beamish staff outside still see the red seating, the screen curtains, the staff on duty – the ladies who used to tear the tickets, the doormen with their peaked Fantastic memories and stories about were shared by caps, the projectionist needing his assistance. Bill, now 77, was a many visitors during our community events in February. Family mem- trainee projectionist at the cinema from 1950 to 1955. He grew up bers of Isaac Womphrey, who ran in its early days, were just five minutes away. Even as a young child, he refused to go to among the visitors. His granddaughter Carol Townend, visited sleep until he saw the cinema close, with its lights turned off, each from Huddersfield, along with her daughter Deborah Townend, evening. He was delighted to be invited by Beamish to visit the also of Huddersfield and another of Isaac’s great-granddaughters, again, where his 53 year career in the cinema business began. Merry Hill, from Leeds. Carol said “it’s wonderful” that is “It feels fantastic to be back in . It’s better than winning the going to be restored to its former glory at Beamish. Colin Clifford, 80, jackpot. “The likes of was what the magic of cinema was of Grangetown, Sunderland, met his future wife, Maureen, at all about. It’s fantastic that Beamish Museum is taking a cinema from . “From when I was about 17/18 we used to come here with the the early part of the cinema business and it’s being retained for lads. One night, we’d been rather noisy and the checker came with a posterity. I’m lost for words.” torch to throw us out.” We said, “it wasn’t us, it was these two girls Bill was born in nearby Roselea Avenue in 1940. “I used to come behind”. The two girls were probably the quietest girls in Ryhope and down when I was five or six years of age and Jack Thompson, who was they got barred. Eventually, I plucked up enough courage to ask one the chief projectionist for almost half a century, used to change the of them if I could take her out and she eventually agreed. We were stills on the front of house and used to let me hold them and I used to married for 57 years and I’ve got a wonderful family, all as a result of give him the photographs advertising the attractions that were on.” .” 14 pasted with glue within a frame and three posters, Monday/Tuesday, Wednesday/Thursday, Friday/Saturday. The double ladder was kept under the stage by the boiler house and I used to hold one end (as best I could) and help Jack carry it round to the front of the cinema. Jack would allow me in the projection room to look around and recall him asking if that was what I wanted to do when I left school and my reply was, “yes please!” He said that I couldn’t visit the projection room until I grew a bit and over the next four years I carried on helping him and the second projectionist with menial tasks. When October 1950 came and I was then in long trousers, Jack told me that provid- ing I stayed in the projection room and did not wander into the auditorium, I could come in on the evenings provided my mum gave him a note agreeing. My mum knew that all I wanted was cinema so A Western Electric Sound sign at she agreed, knowing that the cinema was a mere five minutes down the road. Another visitor, Shirley Arkley, said: “I used to come here from being very young and sit in ‘the dog end’, I think it was sixpence. Then, as I vividly recall the first film, which played to packed houses on the you got older, you graduated to the other parts and then when you Friday/Saturday, being The Jolson Story and was thrilled to bits seeing were courting, you got in the top part, that’s the way it went in those the Columbia Pictures logo and the screen curtains opening. Jack days. I can remember The Quiet Man, with John Wayne and Maureen then taught me how to carefully rewind the 2,000ft spools and also O’Hara and it was such a big queue because it was very popular.” how to splice and make a joint if the perforations had been torn, whilst Shirley’s sister, Dorothy Bridge, said: “I’ve been coming to George Noble the second projectionist was running the show. The since I was very young. The first film I saw was Snow White and the rewind room was down a ladder and under the projection room. The Seven Dwarfs and various other films over the years.” Other visitors’ projection room was directly under the circle in the back stalls. I recall recollections included: Billy: “Rock Around The Clock was on, it was that if a tall person stood up in the back row, his shadow would cover full to the rafters and when the rock and roll started going, everybody the screen and everyone used to shout “sit down!” was up dancing in the aisles. The bouncers were trying to chuck them By the time I had been there six months, Jack taught me how to do out or put them back in their seats, they wouldn’t have it, it was slides. He used to use whitewash diluted with warm water to clean the fantastic.” Bob: “We met here. I spied her and said, ‘that’s the one’. old ones and then used to recover and dry them and he used to have We’re still together 60 years on. I saw her outside in the queue and I a small file and place wording along the bottom of the slide stating thought ‘she’s a smashing looking girl’ and that’s how we got togeth- “next week Monday and Tuesday” and whilst the trailers were screen- er.” Marina used to visit with her parents, brother and ing this information was showing at the bottom. He also showed me sister before going on to sell ice creams there. She said: “It’s nice to how to do a full slide to utilise when we didn’t have a trailer. He used see inside again.” Muriel: “We didn’t have a television so we hadn’t to do them like an artist and took maybe 15 minutes to complete. He seen the Coronation but we actually saw highlights of the Coronation. allowed me to do some and I got the idea of using colour wrappers The thing that struck me, that has always stayed with me, is the fact I from ‘Roses’ chocolates and cover the titles with various colours and saw this enormous gold coach that the Queen was driving in, it was place a blank slide over and tape it. I was so proud and he was all absolutely wonderful. It’s always been a fairy-tale for me.” smiles and then allowed me to do them for over four years. Visit Beamish’s YouTube channel to see videos of open I recall when I was around 13 one Sunday morning I was out for a walk days. [www.youtube.com/beamishmuseum] and saw one of the front entrance doors open and wondered what Reprinted with kind permission from The Beamish Magazine was going on. I went into the foyer and through the half-height door to facilitated by Bill Mather and Julie Wilson {49699} the projection room and there was Jack with almost the whole of the top of the Kalee 8 projectors in pieces, neatly spread across the floor. He bid me good morning and said be careful “son” – he always called me that – and watch where you walk. He said he was putting in a new intermittent unit. He pulled me to the back of the mech and said to me to watch with care and learn. It took over an hour I recall and gradually When I had a phone call from Beamish Museum some two years ago he had me watch whilst he was putting all the bits back and then he stating that they had been ‘gifted’ the in Ryhope, near told me to get a reel of film as he had to make sure there was no Sunderland and they had heard that I could possibly help with some ‘ghost’. I was enthralled at learning how a projector worked. information on the old cinema and could they come over to my home and discuss the matter, I was happy to agree. Bearing in mind my 53 years in the cinema (exhibition) side of the industry after all started in that very place back in 1950 when I was a mere 10-year-old boy. The team from Beamish duly came over and wanted to know all about the cinema and all the details, from what the projection system and sound system was to details of the electric clock and did it have numbers or Roman numerals. It was like going back in a time machine and everything regarding the has always been etched into my mind and most, if not all, I learned from my mentor Jack Thompson, who himself started as a trainee projectionist the day the cinema opened in 1912 (when he himself was only 12) and lasted some 44 years until his untimely death at 56 of lung cancer in the January of 1956, just as I had left school to go into the real world of the cinema industry. My home was within five minutes from the and I could see the cinema easily from my bedroom window with all its illuminated front- age and at that time I was only around six years of age. My mother knew Jack Thompson and took me to the cinema three times a week as there were three changes to the programme a week. The cinema was closed Sundays due to having been built on church land. My first contact with Jack was on a Saturday morning. I could see out of my window Jack opening the ‘Girosign’ frames and I used to rush down the road and meet with him and he used to let me hold the stills and top mini poster. The next job was putting up the next week’s attrac- tions (posters) which were around the side of the cinema and were

15 We had Kalee 8 projectors and One of the greatest and most memo- Western Electric Sound and I re- rable times was when I had turned call that the sound system was an 14 and the second projectionist was up-to-date system as was the non- relieving the chief at the Her- sync and we had to change the rington Burn (Mr Chaytor’s other cin- needles of course. Jack told me ema) and I was on solo with Jack also that as sound came in and Thompson. He told me that on the was installed around 1930 it was last show he was going to let me start originally sound on disc. the main feature by myself and he The next thing I was taught at was going down backstage to close around 13 was how to ‘edit’ and open the screen tabs (we had no (shorten) a long second feature! electric curtain motor). I had to finish We were twice nightly 5:45pm the trailers and open the non-sync and 8:15pm and on the first night Mr Chaytor the owner sometimes music and show the ‘forthcoming at- booked in a double feature and Jack would say that we would be traction’ slides. He would close the waiting till around 11pm to finish and the last buses would have gone tabs and I had to bring up the foot- for patrons so we had to cut say 15 minutes max out of the second lights and battens stage lighting (on feature. He told me that whilst he was in the hall watching the titles the dimmer) and then continue and etc, he would buzz four times and when he did that I had to put a piece start up the projector with the main of paper in the bottom spoolbox to show where to cut the film. That feature. He said to me that he was section had to be carefully placed in the film tin and, when the run was convinced I could do it and to take finished, Jack used to re-insert it and join it. So when was around 14, my time. He let me do the starts on a I was also a film editor I suppose. number of films on Tuesday evenings whilst the second projectionist was on relief. Jack also always emphasised that on the opening titles My next lesson again when I was around 13/14 was one Saturday of a film if it was in colour to slowly dip out the footlights but on black morning. Jack told me he was going to show me how to clean the and white to use a dipped footlight (blue he emphasised if it was a sea contacts on the mercury rectifier. This had always terrified me as it film) etc. He was very fussy on that I recall and if the main house lights was situated along the passage and under the stalls left side stairs were dimmed down too quickly a swift ticking off ensued. and when the switch was turned on it struck up with a big blue glow and a humming sound was evident. The big bulb looked menacing to I recall when I was CEO of a group of cinemas in the North-East I used me and a liquid was bouncing about at the bottom, which Jack to use Tru-Vue, a screen company based over near York and the advised me was mercury. Of course nowadays and for the past dec- owner was Jack Prendergast who ran cinemas in Yorkshire. He asked ade Metal Rectifiers and the sort were to become the norm. me where I started one day and I told him Cinema Ryhope, when I was 10! He said to me that it was a coincidence as when his This Saturday morning he had a spanner and turned the screws and son was around 10 he used to “push him in the projection room” took off the metal contacts. He used sandpaper, I recall and told me whilst he toured one of his cinemas, telling him to learn about being that these should be cleaned about every four weeks. (That was his a projectionist. He said that when he used to leave the cinema he rule anyway!) As always, he said to asked his son what he had learned. He said nothing, I was listening to watch with care. He said that if I all the lovely scores. When I told Jack about my guessing who did the attempted to clean them and I film scores he said to me well you’ll know my lad then as he’s just a made a mistake he would show bit older than you! He then told me he was talking about the composer me twice; if he had to show me a John Barry. He said that his full name was John Barry Prendergast but third time then I wasn’t interested went as John Barry. and he wouldn’t waste his time showing me anymore. He also Mr Chaytor, the owner of the cinema, used to have all the film reps made me a black-painted box calling about once a month and used to book all the films at the about 18" high to stand on as I and for the Herrington. The couldn’t see through the viewing was around 910 seats and port at that time and age. On the was brought down to around 850 evening also prior to the first on reseating. Mr Chaytor used to show, it was my job after lacing up let me look at all the synopsis the to take the perfume spray around renters left and used to give me a the auditorium and spray either ‘Carnation’ or ‘Rose’ diluted from list of films he booked, so I could either ‘Hygenol’ or ‘Crommesol’ suppliers. If the spray was broken he do the slides for forthcoming ones. made me use a fire bucket and walk around using my hand to swish To fast forward to the present I it onto the carpets. shall always be so grateful to Jack Every Monday at the school lunch break at 12-noon I used to catch Thompson and for all the wonder- the bus to the arriving at 12:15pm. The films used to be ful times and training and ‘disci- brought each Monday from Newcastle upon Tyne (Rank Depot) by pline’ he had in making me what I Burt Catterall, who used to supply the majority of independent cine- became. Having left school in Jan- mas in the county and they then had to be made up by the projection- uary 1956 and the untimely death CEA Film Review 1955 ists. I used to call in from school lunch break and without anybody early January 1956 of Jack with found on office floor telling me I used to get a bucket of hot water from the cleaners’ room lung cancer at 56, it is amazing and some carbolic soap and scrub the projection room floor. Jack told how I have used many things taught to myself at the . For me to get some lunch but all I wanted to do was be in the cinema. As instance, I sent memos to all my managers I recall telling them to use Jack was so fussy about the projection room being so spotless he ‘Cromossol Orange Blossom’ in all my cinemas before the cinemas appreciated my efforts. I used to sprint up to our house, grab a opened to the public. Finally, when I had booked Journey to the Centre sandwich then back to school. At 4pm every Monday I used to go of the Earth (Fox) into my Irvine cinema for the Junior Show and found straight from school to my favourite cinema in Sunderland, that the whole show with the serial came to 2hrs 30mins and we had (I classed this as my day off from the !) The only a 2 hour 15 mins spot, then all that experience at the was a beautiful cinema and I used to be entranced watching the slides came flooding back when I sat in the back row and told the projection- advertising what was on the following week and what was on at ist to put a piece of paper in so far in from the titles! that week and also The Rink Ballroom and all Blacks’ Thus, when Beamish rebuilds the perhaps I shall be invited to venues. They had beautiful screen tabs and colour schemes. I used to be ‘The Manager’ and it will be (to be coy) ‘Back To The Future’ for Bill come straight from the around 7:45pm and get the bus straight Mather after 53 years in the business I have loved! to the for the last show. 3 pictures this page taken recently inside

16 This is the third and last article about cinemas I attended closing down. This time it is the at Edgware in North London, which shut its doors in 1993. I asked if I could attend on the last performance and film the evening. By now the cinema was a part of the chain. It had been opened in May 1932 and designed by WJ King in a strange castle outline called ‘Citadel’. Very unusual as it had been built in a new 1930s setting because the Underground had opened a tube station recently and as a result the surrounding shops were very much suburban. It soon became an house and in recent years had received a new tin front, hiding the original outline. It had been subdivided in the last years and I met the second projectionist Keith [R] and saw him busy in a lower screen, built under the balcony. ‘Cake-stand’ equipment was in use and he told me that after he finishes here, he is going to be a gardener. The chief, Bert Albert, [below R] ran the main screen and I was helping him taking down the letters from the front canopy display. In the foyer was an acting manager with the actual manager, who were joined by the lady cashier who had worked in the cinema from when it had been twinned in 1972. Nearby, behind closed grilles, were the girls who had been selling the usual sweets etc. All very sad as all the staff were to lose their jobs The cinema closed and remained so until an Indian or far Eastern team ran the theatre for a while. I lost contact then as I moved away to Kent. On a recent visit a block of odd-looking flats had occupied the site. I say odd because I like to think that some inspira- tion had found its way to remind locals of ‘The Citadel’. Thanks to Rachel Marks for the CTA Archive photos and to Allen Eyles for his book . The cinema can be seen in the DVD available from the Sales Officer frames below from 16mm film. {16557}

17 (Oxon) The operators of the in Evesham are trying to bring screenings to Abingdon’s . They would invest in projection equipment and a big retractable screen, which they would remove at the end of their tenancy. They would also install, at their expense, luxury seating. It follows the success of their temporary cinema in the this winter. The Town Council announced it was to move ahead with the plans. Oxford Mail – 12, 31 March (Surrey) A six-screen cinema will open in July 2018 as part of the town was sold at auction on 5 December last for the price of £170,000. centre redevelopment. Currently the building is boarded-up, awaiting a new use. {32706} Get Surrey – 19 April Daily Mail – 8 December; sent in by Alan Hodson; photo taken July 2007 (Cumbria) Plans for more than 130 flats on the site of the former / The restaurants at and have won four top awards for are set to be approved by the Council. The cinema was demolished in food and hospitality by international magazine Lux. was 2000 and the site is currently used as a car park. {35659} judged to be the best vegetarian restaurant and also took the excel- lence award for dinner entertainment. was crowned best Liverpool Echo – 13 April; Wirral Globe – 18 April; sent in by Alan Hodson & Mike Taylor hospitality and entertainment group in the north along with the Lake (Longbridge) District hospitality venture of the year. Plans (announced on p24 of Bulletin 51/5) to build a nine-screen Westmoreland Gazette – 21 February; sent in by Terry Hanstock cinema on the former MG Rover site, have been scrapped in favour of a new supermarket. (Kent) Birmingham Post – 8 March (Star City) A man has died after he was trapped under a seat at the cinema. He dropped his phone and when looking for it he became trapped under the electric reclining seat’s footrest. The footrest was broken free and he managed to get out but died a week later in hospital. The Gold Class seats were closed whilst a Health and Safety investigation was carried out. Metro, The Times, Daily Mail, BBC News website – 21 March; sent in by Margaret Burgoine, Carl Chesworth, Allen Eyles, Tom Laughlan, Barry Quinton, R David Simpson, Martin Tapsell & Kevin Wheelan (Lancs) Plans for a £6.5m eight-screen cinema on the former Waves water fun park have been approved. However, Conservatives on Blackburn with Darwen Council have pledged to scrap the scheme if they gain control of the Council following local government elections in May. There are fears that Blackburn could not support two cinemas. Lancashire Telegraph – 7, 17 March, 26 April; sent in by Philip Crompton The Council has bought the former Mecca Bingo announced A woman was hit with a vodka bottle when she asked noisy patrons to they would not be renewing their lease due to a decline in business. It be quiet during a screening of 50 Shades Freed at the cinema. is thought the building will be demolished. {14785} The film was paused for 20 minutes whilst order was restored. Police attended but made no arrests. Kentish Express – 15 March; sent in by Martin Tapsell; photo taken April 2004 Metro – 16 February; sent in by R David Simpson (Northumberland) Land at Portland Park had been earmarked for the Council’s new HQ (Northumberland) but the plans were scrapped. Now a multiplex and retail park is being The current issue of Wetherspoon News has three pages of pictures proposed for the site and efforts are being made to find a cinema of the , an excellent conversion into one of their pubs. {1826} operator; two chains are said to be interested. Sent in by Carl Chesworth, Tom Laughlan, R David Simpson & Martin Tapsell Evening Chronicle, The Journal, Newcastle – 19 February, 10 April (Essex) A developer is appealing over the decision to reject two of its schemes The Council is to compulsory purchase properties in and around East to build flats on the site of the former and in Westover Square to build a new cinema. An operator [un-named] has agreed Road. terms to run the ten-screen multiplex. Planning permission is being Daily Echo, Bournemouth – 7 April; sent in by John R Forster applied for. (West Yorks) Basildon Echo – 9 March; Basildon Yellow Advertiser, Basildon Standard – 16 March A government grant of £4m has been awarded to the project to (Wirral) transform the former into a 4,000 capacity music venue. The The Cinema opened in June 1916 but closed in September restoration scheme will also get a share of another £15m fund for 1956, becoming the Majestic Ballroom, where the Beatles played in cultural projects. This means most of the funding is now in place. No their early days. It spent a time as a furniture warehouse before its last date for starting the work has been given. {3677} use as a Chinese restaurant. This closed last year and the building Yorkshire Post – 24 March; Arts Professional – 29 March; sent in by John West 18 A six-screen ‘boutique’ cinema was due to open on 11 May at (Highland) the Broadway shopping centre. It will be the firm’s tenth cinema in the Novelist Ian Rankin has backed proposals to build a 30-seat cinema UK and the second in Yorkshire. at a cost of £230,000. It is the brainchild of the Cromarty and Resolis Telegraph & Argus, Bradford – 19 April; sent in by Terry Hanstock Film Society, which has won praise for its annual film festival. (Blaenau Gwent) Press & Journal, Aberdeen – 6 April; Glasgow Herald – 7 April The was used as a temporary GCSE maths (Kent) classroom when a local school asked for help after losing six days of A new six-screen cinema is to be built following Council approval. teaching due to snow and frozen pipes. The cinema’s town centre Kent Messenger – 29 March location made it easy for staff and year 11 pupils to get to. (Plymouth) BBC News website – 19 March; sent in by Philip Crompton The grade II listed Market Hall is to be transformed into Europe’s first (Lancs) 360°cinema. Work is due to have started by the time you read this Plans for a major town centre redevelopment include a new cinema. and it should be open by the end of 2019. Around 150 people will be Under current proposals, would move from its current site in able to watch sports matches, gigs and plays on an ultra-realistic Manchester Road into the new building; the old cinema would be- screen that totally surrounds them. Movies are to be enhanced by come a supermarket. No further details have been given. smells, heat and light as part of the £7m project. Burnley Express – 23 March; Lancashire Evening Post – 24 March; Western Daily Press – 19 February; City AM – 9 March; sent in by Philp Crompton Western Morning News – 22 March; sent in by R David Simpson Plans for a café in the former foyer of the grade II listed have (Ireland) been approved for ten years, despite the planning officer recommend- Plans for a new cinema complex in Donegal town have been turned ing just a three-year lease. The news is seen as a blow to the future down by the Council. The town has been without a cinema since the restoration of the building, which has been disused for 20 years. closed down. {36755} Donegal Democrat – 16 November; sent in by Gavin McGrath The Stage – 22 March; sent in by Barry Quinton (Isle of Man) (Lancs) A seven-screen cinema is proposed for the former bus station site in The six-screen cinema, which will be part of the Market Walk Lord Street. There are mixed views about the idea. Centre extension, is expected to open late in 2019. Isle of Man Examiner – 27 February; Galley (IOM) – 1 March Lancashire Telegraph – 16 March; Chorley Citizen – 21 March; sent in by Philip Crompton (Kent) The is to expand into a neighbouring former Indian restau- rant for extra production and rehearsal apace. The theatre took over the former cinema 60 years ago – see p18 last Bulletin. {43984} Lancashire Evening Post – 24 March (North Somerset) The has cancelled its annual music festival due to poor ticket sales. The venue has been hosting the festival since 2016 but made a loss last year. North Somerset Times – 21 March The has applied for a £50,000 grant to create a business plan for a creative hub venue. Waverley House, which adjoins the cinema, has been earmarked as a possible location for the hub. North Somerset Times – 11 April (Essex) Planning permission has been granted to convert the former in Crouch Street into flats. The front of the building, including the façade, The new six-screen opened on 9 March at the St James will be retained and cleaned up and converted into 11 flats. The centre. It has a total of 909 seats with the largest screen seating 237. auditorium will be demolished and a new building erected containing {57332} 46 flats. {17575} Dover Mercury – 7 March; East Kent Mercury – 14 March; Dover Express – 15 March; Daily Gazette, Colchester – 9 April sent in by Martin Tapsell and Wilf Watters [photo] (Northants) (Ireland)

The auditorium of the former could be demolished for 19 flats. The façade would be retained. It opened in March 1936 with 1,024 seats and closed as an independent in November 1969. There followed a spell on bingo, which ceased in 1991. From 1996 it was used as a furniture store. Many original features remain in the auditorium. {16655} The , expected to be demolished and redeveloped, still Northamptonshire Telegraph – 14 April; seems to operating as a music venue. interior photo taken February 2004; façade photo on front cover

19 (East Sussex) The grade II listed will reopen in March 2019 after a two-year refurbishment. It was built in 1963 and has been closed since January 2017. The work is part of a £54m project to create the ‘Devonshire Quarter’ but it is overspent by £9m. The Argus, Brighton – 27 March; sent in by Barry Quinton (Leith) The former is to be used for the Hidden Door Festival from 25 May to 3 June. See p23 Bulletin 52/1. Glasgow Herald – 3 March (Hants) The recently-reopened 30-seat has applied for planning permis- sion to install a 120cm satellite dish for live streaming broadcasts of opera, ballet and drama productions. It was found that a smaller dish, which did not need planning permission, did not give a sufficient signal. Two extra staff have been employed as the membership list has grown to nearly 700. {37771} Daily Echo, Bournemouth – 24 March; sent in by John R Forster & Philip Stevens (Stockport)

The Cinema in O’Connell St, closed since 1994, and the sub- ject of many redevelopment plans, all of which came to nothing, is to be the subject of revised proposals to be drawn up by ACME Architects for UK developers Hammersons. Previous plans including actually moving the façade of the up the street as an entrance to a shopping mall. While shopping is also likely to be the focus of any new redevelopment, any future cinema development here seems unlikely. The Cinema is currently being demolished. {11607} All above Dublin items sent in & photos by Bob Bradshaw The in Rathmines has reopened after an 18 month refurbish- ment. External cladding has been removed, revealing the original 1920s façade. Their website [stellatheatre.ie] has some nice pictures. See p25 Bulletin 51/6. {22364} Sunday Times Ireland – 18 February A housing association has bought the site of the former / . A seven-screen cinema is being proposed for the Park retail and It is understood more than 20 retirement apartments will be built as business park at Carrickmines. well as shops on the ground floor. The cinema opened in October Sunday Times, Ireland – 25 March 1937 and closed around 2000. The auditorium was demolished but the façade remains. {2536} A nine-screen cinema is being proposed for a development at the Manchester Evening News – 11 April; photo taken June 2006 Waterfront. If approved, work could begin early next year with the whole site complete by mid-2020. Discussions are in progress with a (Central) A three-screen is earmarked for the Princess Square devel- number of potential operators. opment. The auditoria will seat 95, 74 and 36. No opening date has Dundee Courier – 23 March; Evening Telegraph, Dundee – 27 March been given. (Argyll & Bute) The Scotsman – 12 March; Glasgow Evening Times – 13 March The two-screen cinema has said that the increase in the A fire at a nightclub on 22 March caused the closure of the adjacent cinema licence from £162 to £618 makes it more difficult to sustain . All shows were cancelled or rescheduled. A state- the facility. With more than £10m spent on the Queens Hall and the ment from the still-closed theatre on 20 April criticised the Council for Burgh Hall, the feels it is the poor neighbours and will seriously its slow response and not allowing them access. have to look at its future unless both the Council and the local population are prepared to give more support. Scottish Sunday Post – 25 March; sent in by Tom Laughlan Dunoon Observer – 2 March (Falkirk)

Durham University has announced that it is to spend £2.4m restoring the on North Bailey in the heart of the City. Dating back to 1869, it became the City’s first cinema but was bought by the University in 1930. The 220-seat venue currently hosts the Durham Student Theatre, which includes 26 student theatre companies pre- senting around 100 shows each year. Money will be spent on restor- ing the theatre’s original ceiling and refurbishing the box office area with improvements to the workshops, dressing room and toilet facili- ties and it will also be more accessible for disabled users. A separate crowdfunding campaign has been launched to raise £300,000 to create a café and bar area. The work will start in June and it is estimated it will take 12-14 months to complete, during which time Safety checks have been carried out at the former the theatre will be closed. after wind blew loose roofing into the main road. The cinema Sent in by David & Margaret Williams opened in December 1913 and closed in 1971 as . It became a bingo hall, which closed in 2006. The building is C(s) listed. {23049} Falkirk Herald – 16 March; photo taken September 2008

20 (Lincs) (Devon)

The cinema closed on 26 April and will be demolished. All seven staff will be made redundant. It opened in April 1983 as the 350-seat . In 1985 a second 166-seat screen was added. Independent operator Robert Sanders retired after 23 years and sold it to Reel in 2005; it was so renamed in 2007. The screens seated 280 and 166 The three-screen hosted its second annual film festival in at closure. A five-screen will be built nearby and is scheduled to April. Over three days it showed around 50 feature films plus several open next year. {24709} shorts. Each day had a theme – Friday was ‘plastic-free’ and zombie Grantham Journal – 16 April; sent in by Tim McCullen; photo taken July 2004 night, Saturday included a Marilyn Monroe double-bill and Sunday was devoted to suffragettes. {24779} (Lincs) is to be the operator of a new nine-screen cinema at North Devon Gazette – 28 March; photo taken May 2006 Freshney Place. Work is due to start within the next six months and it (Suffolk) should be open by Christmas 2020. Grimsby Telegraph – 21 March; sent in by Terry Hanstock (East Sussex)

Plans have been submitted for the former five-screen to be- come a church. There would be two areas set aside as “church auditoria” on the ground floor and second floor, in what were the two largest cinema screens. Other screens would be converted into chil- dren’s activity rooms and conference spaces. The grade II listed cinema has agreed a new 20-year lease. Last year a record 35,000 customers came through the doors. It first Ipswich Star – 10 April; sent in by Terry Hanstock; photo taken July 2007 opened in November 1921 and closed in 1965. After a spell on bingo, (Co Kerry, Ireland) it lay derelict for a while but was restored and reopened in February The developers of a new five-screen cinema have successfully ap- 2000. {22446} pealed against the Council’s decision to refuse planning permission. Eastbourne Herald – 9 April; photo taken April 2008 The multiplex will comprise one large-format auditorium with seating for more than 300, three 95-seat screens and one 119-seat screen. (Essex) We reported on p19 of the last Bulletin that the former was to Irish Examiner – 7 April; sent in by Bob Bradshaw be converted into a shop and six flats. This planning permission was (Norfolk) first granted in 2014 but expired and was renewed. The owners then The has increased its prices by 50p; it now costs £4.50 to decided not to proceed and put the building up for auction on 14 see a film. A new family ticket is also being introduced costing £15, a March with a guide price of £300,000. It was unsold at the auction. saving of £3. There are big plans to improve the cinema over the {30131} coming year. {2536} Halstead Gazette – 25 February; East Anglian Daily Times – 7 March Your Local Paper – 30 March / (Anglesey) The has been forced to close “until further notice” due to a Plans are set to be approved for a four-screen “boutique” technical issue with the projector. The Town Council, owners of the cinema in the Cornhill Quarter. It is due to open next spring. building, said they cannot justify selling tickets knowing the projector Lincolnshire Echo – 22 March is malfunctioning and have decided to have a whole new projection (Alexandra Palace) system installed. {26593} The derelict basements of the grade II listed are to Daily Post (Wales) – 28 February be transformed into a theatre space as part of a festival taking place (Wirral) this summer. The four-hour show will feature a mix of characters who A one or two-screen cinema could be opened in the Edwardian have been trapped in the basement, capturing the history of the . No operator has been named. The plans have been backed by building from 1880 onwards. It is currently undergoing a £26m resto- Bond actor Daniel Craig, who went to primary school in Hoylake. ration to save its East Wing, which includes the Victorian theatre. Liverpool Echo – 7 March; Wirral Globe – 14 March; sent in by Mike Taylor Evening Standard – 9 March; sent in by Tom Laughlan & Barry Quinton 21 (Brent Cross) (Ealing) A is to be part of the extension to the shopping Work is to recommence on the rebuilding of the former / centre, announced on p20 of the last Bulletin. It will have 1,800 seats [etc] after the Council announced that the eight-screen venue will be across 12 screens with Laser Projection with Dolby Atmos sound in ready by 2020. The 1,045-seat cinema will be named and each. No opening date has been announced. be operated by Picturehouse. The former façade, currently propped Hammerson.com [Developer’s website] – 5 April up by scaffolding, will be retained. 1, 2 & 3 bedroom apartments on the site are being advertised as “from £524,950”. {3772} (Camden) A film and live show took place at the former (now Koko Ealing & Acton Gazette – 30 March; Metro – 3 April; sent in by Tom Laughlan & R David Simpson nightclub) on 26 March. It was advertised as “a standing show – come and dance”. See p25 Bulletin 52/1. (Forest Hill) Islington Tribune – 16 March; sent in by Tom Laughlan The former , now a Wetherspoons pub, advertises regular Film Nights for adults at 9pm on Wednesdays and also some afternoon (Chelsea) matinée shows and children’s morning matinées during school holi- days. Sent in by Jeremy Buck (Hackney Road)

The closed on 31 March and will be demolished, apart from the façade. This was the former , which opened in December 1934 with 2,502 seats and a Compton organ. It was renamed in January 1963 and closed in March 1972. It was converted into a Habitat store downstairs with a 739-seat cinema in the former balcony. The replacement building will have a three-screen The former is in the process of being demolished. It opened in cinema, set to open in 2022. {14894} July 1938 and films ceased in May 1961 in favour of bingo. That closed in June 2015 when the lease was terminated early. {13886} Sent in by Ken Roe; photo taken March 2006 Sent in & photo by Gavin McGrath (Covent Garden) (Hammersmith) The is to renovate its 550-seat main house for the first time in 40 years. The Victorian auditorium will undergo ceiling repairs, redec- oration and have new seats and carpets. It will close on 23 June and reopen on 5 October. The Stage – 22 March; sent in by Barry Quinton & R David Simpson (Highams Park)

The is to be renamed the later this year. Gillian choreographed Cats, which ran at the theatre from 1981 to 2002 and worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber on other shows. She was appointed a CBE in 1997 and will be the first woman to have a West End theatre named after her. The Stage – 22 March; sent in by Barry Quinton & R David Simpson Planning permission has been granted to restore and reopen the (Dalston) . Two new cinema screens and a café/bar will be installed and The has launched a campaign to raise £400,000 to install solar the front and entrance restored. The building first opened in April panels and become the UK’s first solar powered cinema. A battery 1911 and was rebuilt in September 1935 with 615 seats. Spells on storage system will be charged up during the day and used to run the bingo followed and films finally ceased in April 1971. The stalls area projector at night. The move could save 8,000 tonnes of carbon every became a snooker club and there was a short-lived bingo operation in year. {10557} the circle. {30181} photo taken August 2013 Hackney Gazette – 15 March; sent in by Carl Chesworth East London & West Essex Guardian – 22 March; sent in by Nigel Pitt & Ken Roe

22 (Hounslow) (West End) has confirmed it will open a ten-screen cinema, including Planning permission has been granted to demolish all but the façade an IMAX screen, as part of the High Street Quarter development. It is of the grade II listed 444-seat in Covent Gar- claimed it will be the best Bollywood cinema outside India. Completion den. It was designed by WGR Sprague and opened in 1913. It will be is scheduled for 2020. replaced with a “modern and flexible” new building with a maximum Chronicle & Informer (Hounslow) – 9 March of 475 seats and be named after composer Stephen Sondheim. (Kilburn) Evening Standard – 22, 23 February; The Stage – 1 March; sent in by Tom Laughlan, Barry Quinton & R David Simpson The is having a multi-million pound revamp and is set to open later this year, renamed the . Although the cine- Asbestos has been found at the Leicester Square. Bosses say ma has not been affected by the works (it is in a separate auditorium), the cinema is still due to reopen at the end of the year. the inference from the website is that the cinema will be renamed too. The Sun on Sunday – 8 April; sent in by Gavin McGrath There have been protests against the new name. The (ex ) in Leicester Square has opened a 4DX The Stage, Camden New Journal – 12 April; Evening Standard – 11, 16 April; screen with motion seats and special effects. It is situated in screen sent in by Gavin McGrath, Tom Laughlan, Barry Quinton & R David Simpson �, the former . {13056} (Kings Cross) Time Out, Metro – 17 April; sent in by R David Simpson Fire broke out at the Pullman St Pancras Hotel, which also houses the (Suffolk) on 9 March. Six fire engines and 35 firemen were called to the scene. No one was hurt. Daily Express – 9 March; sent in by Margaret Burgoine (Mortlake) A cinema could be incorporated in a redevelopment of the Stag Brewery site. Richmond & Twickenham Times – 13 April (Richmond) Patrons at the claimed they were not offered a refund or vouchers after the sound system failed during a screening of Lady Bird on 23 February. An spokesperson said the sound was adjusted and regular checks made but offered passes to affected guests. Source unknown – sent in by Philip Stevens (Sidcup) The operator of the has pledged to spend half a A three-screen cinema is proposed for the site of the former Block- million pounds on improvements over the next two years. A new buster store. The closed 18 years ago and was demolished. website and ticketing system will be launched and new seating added to the rear of screens �, � & � ; screen � will have all its seats News Shopper, Bexleyheath – 4, 11 April; Bexley Times – 5 April replaced. Meanwhile, a cinema has been put forward as one idea for (Swiss Cottage) the reuse of the former magistrates’ courts building. {24985} East Anglian Daily Times – 3 April; Eastern Daily Press – 6 April; photo taken May 2004 (Central) Plans for redevelopment of the Great Northern Warehouse would see much of the upstairs parking space replaced with apartments. The 16-screen (ex ) would remain but with a different footprint and new entrance. {25057} Manchester Evening News – 6 March (Teesside)

The refurbished IMAX screen at the officially reopened in mid-March. It has 184 hand-made leather reclining seats with individ- ual retractable tray tables. The London Lions basketball team were invited to try out the new seats, which have triple the legroom. The screen measures 8.8m tall and 17.5m wide. See p26 Bulletin 52/1. Camden New Journal – 22 March; sent in by Tom Laughlan (Walthamstow) The grade II* listed former / is to be purchased by Waltham Forest Council for £2.6m. The building will be fully renovated and Soho Theatre would operate a 1,000-seat venue featuring come- dy, pantomime, theatre and film screenings. The project is estimated to take three years to complete. {9397} The eleven-screen (ex ) is having a makeover. It has announced there will be a 164-seat 4DX screen, measuring 13.7m by Waltham Forest Council Website, Evening Standard – 12 March; The Stage – 15 March; sent in by Tom Laughlan, Barry Quinton, Ken Roe & R David Simpson 5.9m. At full refurbishment the cinema will have 2,420 seats. Screen � has been completely re-seated with an increased rake. {25083} (Waterloo) Evening Gazette (Teesside) – 19 March, 13 April; photo taken June 2006 The will stage a free performance of its forthcoming show Mood Music on 11 May to celebrate its 200th birthday. See p21 last Bulletin. (Somerset) Evening Standard – 22 March; sent in by Tom Laughlan Wetherspoons have confirmed that work has started to convert the former to a pub, which should be open by mid-September. Wetherspoon News – April; sent in by Gavin McGrath

23 (Lancs)

Morecambe has become the UK centre for the International Theatre Institute [ITI] and is bidding to hold its World Congress in 2020. There are plans to create a 1,000-seat theatre in the former [pictured] estimated to cost £15m. Lancashire Evening Post – 24 March; photo taken May 2008 (Co Down, Northern Ireland) The façade of the grade II* listed former has been cleaned up. The same company that supplied the original creamy white glazed architectural faience with which the building is faced and ornamented is still in business and has supplied replacement details where neces- sary. Statues in niches around the building had been taken apart and removed indoors for stabilisation and cleaning. The building has now been sold for between £3.5m and £4m – part of the empty office space could be converted into luxury student flats. The cinema opened in August 1921 with 1,477 seats and a grand organ. Films ceased in March 1977 in favour of bingo, which continued until the early 1990s. {21746} Nottingham Post – 23, 27 March; sent in by Terry Hanstock; photo taken May 2008 (Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland) A new seven-screen opened on 21 March; it includes a MAXX screen. The town already has a nine-screen cinema, which has recently had a £1m revamp. Ulster Herald – 1, 15 March; Tyrone Constitution – 22 March

The organ in the Cinema has been removed and is in (Shropshire) The Town Council has rejected a request for funding to help open a storage and for sale. This is the 3/8 Compton from the 112-seat cinema in a former church building in King Street. Planning Hounslow, which remained in the cinema until closure in 1984. It then permission was granted last year. went for storage to the Plough, Great Munden, where it was planned to install it in a restaurant adjacent to the pub. It was installed in Oswestry & Border Chronicle – 22 March; sent in by John Bernard Powell between 1997 and 2004 by Ernie Watson. Unusually, the organ was not in the auditorium but on a balcony overlooking the A campaign group has unveiled plans to save the (ex ) and entrance foyer. The cinema has been sold and the space is required turn it into a massive gig venue. There would be a 1,000 person for an extra screen. The CTA visited in September 2014. concert hall, cinema, rehearsal space, bar and restaurant. {24749} Sent in by Jeremy Buck; photo taken on CTA visit, September 2014 The Herald, Plymouth – 17 April

The grade II listed is in line to receive a £5.5m grant from the Welsh government. The funding is dependent on an operator coming forward to run the facility once the redevelopment is completed next year. It opened in March 1940 and closed in 1983. It had a spell on bingo and was converted into a four-screen cinema before finally clos- ing in January 1999. The building is now owned by the Council. {18212} Wales Online – 9 March; sent in by Elliot Griffiths

by Allen Eyles – all fully illustrated with gazetteers The former is to become a “boutique” bowling alley. The cinema £15.00 opened in April 1938 and closed in the early 1960s. It became a bingo – £15.00 hall, before being taken over by Wetherspoons and reopened as The Buy both together for £27 (plus postage) City Gate pub in September 1999. It later became an Asian buffet £18.99 restaurant called Merge but it received a zero hygiene rating and eventually closed in late 2016. {25220} Eastern Daily Press – 16 March; sent in by Les Woods; photo taken July 2007

24 (Lincs) The Council has approved the £1.5m purchase of a 99-year lease on land at the back of the Corn Exchange, to develop a new cinema. Sleaford Target – 14 March

After years of planning, the £30m has opened. There is a large open stage with excellent special effects. The complex includes a 450-seat theatre, which features screening facilities. Daily Echo – 17 February; sent in and additional information by Ian Patterson

About 1,000 clubbers were evacuated after a fire broke out in the ceiling above the dance floor at the Astoria nightclub on 28 March; no one was hurt. This was the grade II listed former cinema, which opened in February 1921 and closed in 1981. {22564} BBC News website – 28 March; sent in by Philip Stevens; photo taken May 2006 (North Yorks) The (former ) is to reopen as a three-screen operation under AJH Cinemas. The annual rent is £45,000. The new six-screen 800-seat is set to open in June. Express & Star – 7, 9 April; sent in by Alan Pointon [photo] & Chris Ingram via Carl Chesworth

The development that includes the eight-screen has been sold for £5.4m. It is thought the operation of the cinema will be unaffected. The new owners [un-named] can expect rents of £450,000 a year, after certain deductions; the net yield is 7.35%. Stirling Observer – 16 February

Planning permission has been granted to redevelop the grade II listed former cinema. The roof and some internal areas will be demolished to make way for three commercial units and eleven The could be re-purposed as a theatre if plans are approved student flats. The white tiling on the wall facing Swansea Castle has for a new five-screen multiplex a few hundred yards away. The build- to be retained. The cinema opened in December 1913 and closed in ing was forced to close on 10 April after “structural issues” were October 1991 to become a Lazer Zone. {17668} discovered. A structural survey has now begun, which will determine Wales Online – 9 March if it is possible to save the building. {5304} photo taken June 2006 (Somerset) Evening Gazette, Teesside – 20, 22 March; sent in by David & Margaret Williams Plans have been approved for a development incorporating a cinema (Saudi Arabia) at the Firepool site. No size or operator has been given. Saudi Arabia’s first cinema in more than 35 years opened on 18 April Bridgewater Mercury – 20 March; Somerset County Gazette – 22 March in Riyadh, the capital. This is part of the social reforms set in motion (North Yorks) by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The first film to be shown was Black Panther. The main screen has around 500 seats on two levels: a further three screens will be added during the summer. The cinema will not be segregated like most other public places in the kingdom. Saudi Arabia wants to build around 350 cinemas to serve its population of 32 million, most of whom are below the age of 30. Most of them are avid consumers of Western media and culture. Despite the cinema ban, Hollywood films and recent television series are widely watched at home and discussed. Reuters News Agency; Daily Telegraph – 6 April; sent in by Carl Chesworth & Anthony Wills (Greater Manchester) Work has begun on the £80m town centre redevelopment. It will include a six-screen cinema. Opening is set for summer 2020. The volunteer-run has overhauled the foyer, including new LED lighting. A £2,000 grant was match-funded by the cinema. It has 204 Rochdale Observer – 21 March; sent in by Carl Chesworth seats in stalls and circle. {3372} (West Sussex) Northern Echo, York Press – 28 March; photo taken January 2006 Revised plans have been submitted for a theatre, cinema and coffee shop in the former . They include a 150-seat auditorium and (East Lothian) improvements to facilities for public and performers. The Town Coun- The has raised £2.4m towards transforming the former cil has already reserved £35,000 to assist the regeneration. It was cinema into a community hub. It has been told it needs a further built in 1913 and films ceased in September 1964 with Summer £400,000 for the project to go ahead and it has launched an appeal to Magic. See p24 Bulletin 51/2. {43436} raise this in just a month. See p22 Bulletin 48/4 and p25 Bulletin 51/2. West Sussex Gazette – 9 April East Lothian Courier – 8 March

25 (Staffs)

(Essex) It has been announced that the Harwich Trust has received a confirmed grant of £653,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the repair and refurbishment of the thanks to money raised by National Lottery players. The project will undertake essential conservation work to strengthen the ceiling of this iconic early cinema, redecorate the auditorium, refurbish the seats and toilets, replace electrical switchgear, enlarge the stage and enhance security. Work will begin in May and take an estimated nine months, during which time the cinema will need to be closed to the public. However Lottery funding will support the re-creation of an Edwardian “ The opened in September 1935 with 900 seats in stalls and ” which will be erected on Harwich Green during the 2018 circle. By 1976 it was on part time films and bingo. In 1982 a 120-seat Harwich Festival, which runs from 21 June to 1 July. This Bioscope will cinema was created in the former circle with bingo underneath. It be based on a photograph of a Bioscope operated by Charles closed in 1998 and now belongs to the Renew church but the audito- Thurston, the creator of the Electric Palace. An exciting programme of rium has been largely unused. Now a £15,000 donation from digger events will take place in the in June in conjunction with the giant JCB – which equals the amount it cost to build the cinema in Harwich Festival. 1935 – means it will be resurrected as a community room. {40173} Commenting on the award, Trust Chairman David Looser said: “We’re Burton Mail – 20 April; photo taken June 2006 delighted that we’ve received this support thanks to National Lottery (Hants) players. This will enable us not only to do the work necessary to keep A pop-up cinema in St George’s Church Hall celebrated its first anni- the operating for the foreseeable future but also to versary with a screening of Breathe by first-time director Andy Serkis. expand our range of activities.” Jackie Buckley, Waterlooville Events Team chairwoman, said the See p19 last Bulletin & Events p4 this Bulletin pop-up cinema was created for local residents after plans for a (Ireland) cinema in a new shopping complex fell through. Screenings at the has bought a never-opened shopping centre for about Church Hall are held once a month on a Thursday night. Tickets are €1.2m. It had been close to completion when the property market £6 and include a free cup of tea or coffee. Waterlooville has been crashed in 2008. has a four-screen cinema next door and without a cinema since the single-screen , which boasted a will relocate to the first floor of the shopping centre and increase the capacity of 784, closed in 1959. number of screens to eight. The bottom floor of the centre will be Portsmouth News – 5 April; sent in by Mike Whitcombe offered for letting to restaurants, cafes and coffee shops. There are (Tyneside) three levels of parking above. The cinema is to open two more screens after receiving a Irish Times – 28 February; sent in by Gavin McGrath £65,000 grant. Its current 50-seat screen is upstairs in a former Job (Staffs) Centre and opened in September 2013. Developers have won an appeal against demolition of the former Newcastle Chronicle – 7 March . This means a 13-storey building containing 227 student flats (Hants) can be built on the site. The cinema opened in February 1913 as the The has made a surplus, which is set to clear the and was renamed in February 1927 £90,000 deficit that had accrued over the last seven years. The after a refurbishment. It was taken over by in 1932 and closed in theatre will have a £750,000 revamp over the next four years; work April 1964. Bingo took over and in December 1975 the former circle will be done on the café and the box office and improvements to the reopened as a 200-seat cinema; this closed in February 1991. The air conditioning and LED lighting, making it more comfortable and former stalls had been converted to a health club and snooker club cheaper to run. There will be more live streaming of events. and was last used as a nightclub. See p2 Bulletin 51/2. {38923} Daily Echo – 7 April; sent in by Ian Patterson Stoke-on-Trent Live - 23 April (Berks) (North Yorks) Work has started on clearing the ground to make way for the new three-screen at Denmark Street. Wokingham Paper – 22 February (West Sussex) The is to turn the former Tourist Information Centre at the front of the building into a third screen. It will seat between 40 and 50 people in comfortable armchair-style seats and a number of two-seater sofas. The consultants have been working with the relevant authorities to ensure there is no damage to the grade II* listed building. It is hoped the screen may be open by the time you read this. {4011} The Argus Brighton – 26 February; Worthing Herald – 1, 7 March; sent in by Barry Quinton

The rate for small ads from members is £3 for 25 words with name and address free, plus 15p for each extra word. Non-members rates: £5 & 25p respectively. The [long] foyer of the former / is being converted into two Please send cheque or postal order (payable to the Cinema Theatre Association) flats, according to an on-site workman, although work seems to have to the Bulletin Editor, address on p2. Please quote membership number. Advertisers are requested to reply to all respondents who supply SAE for that purpose. stopped since I took this photo in January. I understood there was : eighth page – £15; quarter page – £25; already a flat above the foyer, let on a long lease. The auditorium was half page (horizontal or vertical) – £45; full page – £80 demolished a couple of years ago and residential accommodation built – you can just see this down the alley to the left of my opticians. FOR SALE: Picture House issues 1-5 and 7-12 (No copy of No 6, Sent in by Harry Rigby eleven issues only). Offers around £50.

26 But back to the cinema business. Does anyone remember the month- I found Ron Knee’s article Memories of the – Part ly lunches held by West End cinema managers in the 70s at the 2 and the beautifully reproduced photographs that accompanied it, Grafton Rooms (?) just off Oxford Circus? Managers from West End one of the most interesting and fascinating pieces I’ve enjoyed for a playhouses were often invited to join their cinema colleagues at these long time. The has been my favourite theatre for a very long lunches, an invitation never to be turned down (and certainly not by time and Ron’s vivid and detailed recollections of the building and his me). I remember some great characters from these gatherings; Paul time there was a real tonic. It was the regular Sunday night TV Lucas from the Leicester Square and Joe Moody from Har- broadcasts from the theatre which first attracted my interest as a land’s of Hull are two that immediately come to mind. Harland’s was youngster and my first visit to the was to see London the leading supplier of pre-printed tickets for West End cinemas and Laughs, the twice-nightly spectacular review of 1966 with which Ron theatres in the days before computerised box offices. Joe would was heavily involved technically. For me it was love at first sight and sponsor attendees at these lunches, absolutely in the expectation of everything about the huge and handsome theatre I’d only known future business for Harland’s. My recollection is that he was pretty through TV made for a memorable experience. Here was Frank Mat- successful. There was even a time when Harland’s would fly West End cham’s masterpiece ‘in the flesh’ and in all its crimson and gold and managers on specially arranged charter day trips from Gatwick to Hull marble magnificence. The show was wonderful and starred Harry to see round the Harland’s printworks, with a classy lunch in the Secombe, Thora Hird and Freddie Frinton, Jimmy Tarbuck, Russ Con- company Board Room thrown in. After one of these trips, who could way and ‘introduced’ singer, Anita Harris but it was the theatre that even think of placing their ticket print orders with a supplier other made the experience so special for me. Stage lighting is an interest of than Harland’s? Much alcohol was consumed at these lunches, al- mine and the rig at the was always going to be impressive though nothing excessive until the brandy and port had been served, as in many big theatres but the Argyll Street venue had a particularly after which the waiting staff were invited to leave the dining room. marvellous installation – at Ron’s hands – so as to provide the lighting Then the jokes started. Oh dear… Great times though! for TV and, in the future, colour TV. I suspect Ron and I are ‘fellow Tom Pate spirits’ where the is concerned and his memories of work- For nearly seventy years I have had a mystery in the back of my mind, ing there made me somewhat envious but also evoked memories of which, I think, has now been solved by Ron Knees’ article. A highlight so much about the place which, all these years later, I find conspicu- of my early childhood was a visit to the Christmas pantomime at the ous by their absence now that the has become, in the main, . From my lofty viewpoint in the ‘Gods’ I could see a theatre just another large London theatre for staging book musicals rather organ perched in one of the right hand boxes. Although only young, than the variety for which it was created. The burgundy velour swag being a Clapham Granadier, I certainly recognised the shape of an house tabs with their deep, gold bullion fringe, the five riser micro- organ console when I saw one. What mystified me was that the phones, the stage revolves and ‘tapper boards’ (tongue-in-groove gentleman sat at this ‘organ’ did not produce any notes from it – the stage floorboards several feet wide and set at right angles to the superb pit orchestra carried out this function magnificently. Looking stage front for making the most of the once popular tap dancers in at Ron’s photo of the original lighting control unit this is very probably variety shows), all features long gone. what I had mistaken for an organ. Presumably the designers had Although living in Yorkshire, I was back at the to enjoy the disguised it to look like an organ to blend in with the theatre. Of theatre’s first book musical Golden Boy from a few rows back in the course, after seventy years and being of a very tender age then, I orchestra stalls. It was a packed matinée performance and I was might well be barking at the wrong tree. lucky, Sammy Davis Junior did appear on that occasion! Not only was Peter Towell the show fantastic but, as the audience was leaving and I remained in my seat taking in the wonders of the auditorium, Sammy Davis came through the closed curtains, sat on the edge of the stage, unlit and unaccompanied and sang What Kind Of Fool Am I – what a bonus. Ron clearly remembers that troubled run. Several years later, I worked for Moss Empires as assistant manager of their other West End house, the , later managing their and, although I never officially worked at the , I have spent a lot of time there and lost count of the number of shows and artists I’ve seen there since. Times have changed; variety on the scale remembered has gone and technology has moved on. Moss Empires is no more and ownership has changed and, ridiculously, the annual Royal Variety Performance has even been held at the some years, which is a concert hall, not a theatre. The same has happened with the Royal Film Per- formance of course when the two prestigious charity events never The Blackpool had a similar console installed when looked better than when presented at the and it was rebuilt in 1963. It had been disconnected when the above respectively. For all these reasons, to Ron, “Thank you for photo was taken [in a dark storeroom] on a CTA visit in 1985. It is penning such an interesting and evocative article which I for one will currently preserved in Wakefield, Yorkshire. cherish” and to Harry, “Thank you for so skilfully configuring Ron’s article and photographs”. The piece is a historically valuable document on the technicalities and operation of such an important theatre. Anyone who receives an email from – whether it’s for an advanced ticket booking or a monthly ‘Limitless’ update – will find James Bettley attached one of those fascinating facts that huge corporations like to It was good to read Ronnie Knee’s two articles on his time at the use when attempting to dazzle their customers. In this case the fact , which overlapped with mine. Ronnie: I remember concerns popcorn. According to the blurb, “sells almost 2,000 you well and particularly the gossip we enjoyed (all true) about the tonnes of perfectly popped popcorn every year. That would fill Wem- goings-on both backstage and front-of-house at the . We bley Stadium five times!” My first reaction to this kernel of information kept in touch for a while after our days – I went on to is to wonder how much of the popcorn is digested and how much ends at the and years later to Manchester to up on an auditorium floor? From my experience of many reopen the as a second home for The Royal Opera cinemas I would say a good seventy percent ends up on the floor (yes, that was once thought likely); not to the which, bearing in mind how much they charge for it, is really rather as you thought, although that too was soon to reopen as a shocking! theatre after many years with Mecca on bingo. Mike Whitcombe

27 I’m concerned we should get the story right on what is happening to the organ at the Grays when it becomes a Wetherspoons, as the entry for it on page 23 of the Jan/Feb Bulletin is a bit misleading (not Margaret Burgoine’s fault as she only sent you what the muddled Thurrock Gazette had reported) and unfortunately Tim in the March/April edition does not specifically mention the organ. Anyway, the console is not to be “left to sit on the stage” but will remain in the orchestra pit but most likely in the ‘up’ position on its lift and a new balustrade modelled on existing ones elsewhere in the building will run along the front of the stage to prevent people falling down. Richard Gray

I should like to respond to Tim Hatcher’s mention of York Odeon’s “foyer murals” in the Listed Grade II section of his Campaigning to Save your Historic Cinemas feature on page 6 of the March/April Bulletin. I wonder if the “foyer murals” actually refers to the decorative frieze, which was painted above door height on the circle lounge walls. I remember being intrigued as a child looking up at the painted characters and equipment associated with the making of films. The I was in New York last December and visited The Museum of the frieze was visible until the was modernised in 1964 at a cost Moving Image. They have a model of a cinema there and wondered of £20,000. The modernisation works included the installation of a what is was. plain false ceiling (initially painted pale blue) below the frieze. As part of restoration last year, they had every intention of reveal- David Barraclough ing the frieze but when the false ceiling was removed, the frieze was It a model of the long lost fabulous , New no longer able to be restored. I suspect twenty seven years of heat York, NY. {556} and smoke plus the inevitable girder work necessary for the suspen- sion of a false ceiling, had all taken their toll. Mercifully, the elongated In the current Bulletin it is mentioned that the Taunton is for concealed lighting feature on the lounge ceiling had survived and has sale. It is Grade II listed. In fact it was sold on 7 December for £1.85m. been relit and re-gilded to beautiful effect. The frieze was never At the moment I can’t find out who bought it but Mecca is currently wallpapered over, simply confined to darkness. I believe the frieze paying a rent of £4,000 per week! Maybe it has been sold to a was the work of Frederick White, who subsequently painted the safety property company and Mecca will remain as the tenants? If I find out curtain at the . The York opened in any further info I will update you. February 1937, whereas its larger Leicester Square cousin opened Mike Henderson the following November. I was told about Frederick White when I was a management trainee at the York cinema in 1966. James Bettley A few years ago visiting or working in the cinema could be hazardous to your health. In the days when smoking was the ‘in thing’, every seat was fitted with an ashtray and while we watched our favourite star in I was interested to read in the March/April 2018 Bulletin’s Editorial action, there could be some distraction from smoke getting up your that several readers had been surprised to find the nose and in your eyes. Imagine sitting in a hall with over a thousand closed. I had known since November last year that the closure people and half of them smoking. This is mega passive smoking. I was planned to follow the run of Star Wars: the Last Jedi early this know there were extract fans but this didn’t completely solve the year. Admittedly my information came from someone closely associat- problem. Imagine the poor usherettes having to sit at the back of the ed with Cinemas Ltd but with the scale of works planned to hall all day, constantly inhaling someone’s smoke. I remember going cost up to £15 million, clearly advance planning would have been to the cinema with an uncle who was forever lighting up, with the vital. The premiere of The Post on the evening following public closure smoke constantly wafting past me. It wasn’t only the public that was arranged after the closure was announced but, presumably, suffered, screens often had to be sprayed as they went brown due to sometime in advance of the event. I suppose there is little commercial the nicotine. Up in the box there were other hazards including carbon reason to publicise closure dates – reopening will be a very different dust, asbestos blankets, asbestos coating on cables, thawpit cleaning matter – and this could account for some being surprised. I men- fluid and bad film copies that could put a nasty gash in your finger. tioned January’s closure on the Cinema Treasures website back in Thank goodness smoking is no longer allowed and the box is a November. I have noticed in recent times the flagship seems healthier place to work in. to have fallen under the CTA’s radar in several respects. The famous David A Ellis cinema celebrated its 80th anniversary on 2 November 2017. The period of closure could last for up to nine months and it is Further to my piece regarding the battery room fire at the planned the will reopen in time to host this year’s London Film Chippenham back in January this year (apologies for my belated Festival. Intriguingly, whilst plans for changes to the theatre’s façade response) I am pleased to report that the damage was repaired very and foyer spaces are available to view in minute detail in the Compa- quickly for reopening for the New Year programme. ny’s planning application for alterations (to Westminster City Council), because the building is unlisted, no such information for the auditori- Further to my comment that the proposed refurbishment plans could um is publicly available. A very large screen is promised but not IMAX be moved forward as a result of the fire, passing by the cinema this and the Company stated they wished to retain important features week large Portacabins have appeared on site and it looks as if the such as the Compton organ. Both a lift and escalator linking ground refurbishment with extra screens is about to take place. This would and first floors were intended, as was significantly greater toilet make sense as the Easter programmes are out of the way and a provision. The 1998 front-of-house balcony (which the was summer opening could be on the cards. A recent visit by my daughter- quick to copy!) is being extended to almost the full width of the in-law and grandson confirms this as, all the way through the film building and the blue neon outlining the façade, tower and attached performance, she could hear a hammer drill and the sounds of a signage will all be replaced with the LED equivalent. Those interested sledge hammer from below and was told that rebuilding work was should goto [cinematreasures.org/theaters/841]. The site has many underway. photographs and comments and links to view the detailed planning The cinema is still open and I will keep the Bulletin informed on this application for alterations to the frontage. My name on the long overdue cinema refurbishment project – first promised several site is FanaticalAboutOdeon – a pun now lost as dropped their years ago! Fanatical About Film mission statement last year! David Reeves. James Bettley

28 That Bulletin Morecambe item has stumbled on a mystery to chal- lenge accepted knowledge. Cinema Treasures is no help. There was no cinema in the Morecambe Guardian of 5 July 1955; and there isn’t one in the Kinematograph Year Books 1954 and 1957. However, the Morecambe Guardian of 15 August 1958 has an advert for the . It was on Victoria Street. Its phone number was 108 (the on Market Street was 109); so it was old premis- es. On the same page, an editorial about the explains its programming is a different old feature film each day. Shows were continuous from 3pm Sundays, 2pm weekdays, with a 10am show if the weather was wet! (I see the ran a morning show for the dirty-mac brigade – The Isle of Levant – scenes from a French nudist colony!) On 12 September 1958, the newspaper carried an editorial saying that the is closing for the winter. The phone number is the same as the . The was on Back Crescent Street, which runs parallel to Marine Road Central. Victoria Street is the next thoroughfare beyond the and runs more I’m a new CTA member, although I’m not sure why it’s taken me so or less parallel to Back Cres- long to join! I’ve been a keen admirer of historic cinemas for some cent Street and Marine Road. years and regularly try to track down and photograph those from the inter-war years when visiting new areas of the country. Having re- The Morecambe Guardian al- ceived and thoroughly enjoyed, my first copies of your magazine, I so has a report of a court case thought I’d drop you a line to let you know about a project I’m currently of young lads on a burglary undertaking. spree with a loaded air pistol. They broke into the ‘ I have (as I’m sure many other members do), a particular weakness and stole ‘fags’. for of the 1930s. Whist many other cinemas from the period often display the hallmarks and charm of this ground-breaking period Hector Hill in architecture, the designs produced for Oscar were (to my eyes) the At the location most astonishing. I consider the vast majority of cinemas built for the Hector describes, is a building chain in the period 1935-39 to be masterpieces, the frontage of each with in stonework offering a fascinating new slant on flamboyant English modernism. As on the façade [R] so the such, last year, with the aid of Allen Eyles’ indispensable pair of CTA cinema may have operated books (bolstered with various websites), I found myself putting togeth- in here. There is a thought that er a spreadsheet of the surviving structures built for Oscar during his this short-lived venture may lifetime. From this, I set myself the task of following in John Maltby’s have been 16mm. footsteps, visiting and photographing each. The project, provisionally called ‘ Relics’ is of an ongoing na- As a supporter of the CTBF, I received a letter from them today inform- ture. Approaching the halfway mark (hopefully complete this time next ing me of their change of name to Film & Television Charity. Regretta- year). I have identified 57 sites (including 3 hangovers from the 50s) bly, ‘Cinema’ has been dropped from the new name. Another nail in that either survive, or have enough remaining elements to warrant a cinema’s coffin. In my view, the word Charity that now replaces Benev- photograph. Obviously the condition and use for each varies dramati- olent Fund, is a grave error. Today the word is tainted, having been in cally but makes an interesting study, even when one often doesn’t the headlines for the wrong reasons. I have always felt that Benevolent approve of what has come to pass. I’m focussing on producing one Fund was more reassuring and calm, whereas, Charity is nebulous. I single vibrant colour exterior image from each location, often taken shall, of course, continue to support the CTBF in its new form. CTA from the same aspect as John’s original period shots. I’m only an members should be aware of this change and act accordingly. amateur but I hope to display the final series as a small exhibition, in I console myself, alongside other CTA members, with the memories of addition to producing a limited number of books. I’ve attached one of cinema as we knew it before it was consumed by technology and my favourite shots to date but a full set to date can be seen here… reduced to soulless and expensive multiplexes. We had fun times, [artdecomagpie.com/portfolio/odeon-relics] continuous performances, ‘B’ pictures, hands on projectors where, in Philip Butler the ‘box’, often there was more action than on the screen (I write from experience, having been trained in the original ), Sorry to spoil a good story [p19 last Bulletin] but ventriloquist Peter mad dashes out of the cinema to avoid the National Anthem etc. No Brough was not fined £10 for performing at Morecambe on a Sunday. doubt, we all have stories to tell, I know I have. I am 80 this year and Brough starred in two shows held in the Marine Ballroom on the treasure my cinema years in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. They were at 6:15 and 8:15 on the evening of Sunday 10 July 1955. golden years, which included the British phenomenon called ‘The Both shows were observed by the police, who took notes but did not Saturday Morning Pictures’ that introduced me and thousands of intervene. Between the shows a police inspector advised the manager other kids to the magic bolthole – our local cinema. I ran a team to that, in his opinion, the performance broke the licensing law. The produce a 1950s Saturday Morning Pictures Show in the legality turned on an abstruse point of Sunday entertainment licens- to benefit The Prince’s Trust, Variety Club of Great ing law as to whether Brough’s dummy, Archie Andrews, was a ‘theat- Britain and The Children’s Film and Television Foundation. I have a rical prop’. Brough held it was not, claiming it was in the same few programmes for sale at £5.OO each (inc p&p) should any CTA category as a professional musician’s instrument, which was permit- member wish to have one. ted to be played on Sundays. The ever-vigilant Lord’s Day Observance Clearly it is more important than ever to preserve as many of our Society had alerted the police when the show was announced, arguing cinema and the memories they protect on our behalf. Personally I was that Archie was a prop and therefore the performance would be heavily involved with the successful Harwich campaign. illegal. On the same Sunday evening at the theatre, Derek Threadgall [[email protected]] Ted Heath’s band experienced no trouble. It was the unfortunate Eddie Morrell (manager and licensee of the ) who was summoned as the legally-responsible party to appear before More- The has a slogan painted on its front hoard- cambe magistrates. At the end of October he was fined £10 plus a 5 ing: “We’re working hard so you can put your feet up.” I spent years as guineas ‘advocate’s fee’. a cinema manager telling kids not to put their feet on seats! R David Simpson Hector Hill

29 I have read the articles regarding advertising in theatres (last issue of Bulletin), which I must have missed in the previous edition. My mem- ory was triggered by Tim Hatcher’s letter regarding at Do you recognise any of these? Please let your editor know. Folkestone and the apparent contraption for showing slides he de- scribed. In the late 1950s I went to the on a number of occasions and they too showed slides on the Safety Curtain. Unusually the spot box (I assume) was at the back of the Royal Circle, rather than at the back of the Balcony as in most thea- tres. There were four ports and, whilst I don’t think I ever saw them being used by a roving spot, there was one visible once on an occa- sion when one port was open. One port seemed to be masked by a board with two holes cut in it, offset from each other. It was from this one that the beams were project onto the safety curtain. One beam would project a circular picture, which moved in from the side and the other beam would project a beam that came in from the other side. Both met to form a composite picture, before moving off – both continuing in the same direction as before. The operation was repeat- ed for each advert. Usually one would depict for example a picture of a ‘Radiogram’ and the other would have the name of a local dealer. Sent in by Michael Armstrong This seems very similar to the gadget that Tim described and I am only sorry that I never took the opportunity to try and get in to see it. Sounds fascinating and must have great to see it operating. Frank Snart

I notice on your Happy Birthday page a picture of the Newport. I remember members visited this area last year. My son, Andrew Byers, is the current owner of the former , now renamed . I was amazed at the rare photo on p30. I have located a number of photos but never the one you used. I would love to have a copy of that photo to have framed to go on the office wall in the cinema. Please keep your excellent magazine as it provides great interest to us old projies. Ray Byers I have sent Ray a copy of the photo.

In your March/April Bulletin editorial, you ask, ‘how to take a screen shot on a Mac’. Just in case you haven’t been inundated with answers, Sent in by Richard Jones we hope the following helps: ● To take a screenshot of your entire screen. 1. Press Shift-Command (⌘)-3. 2. Find the screenshot as a. png file on your desktop. ● To take a screenshot of a selected portion of your screen. 1. Press Shift-Command (⌘)-4. The pointer changes to a crosshair. 2. Move the crosshair to where you want to start the screenshot, then drag to select an area. ● There is also a procedure to take a screenshot from iOS devices, (iPhone (model 8 or earlier) and iPad etc)). 1. Press the home button and power button (on/off switch) simultaneously. 2. The screen shot can be found in Photos. Well if nothing else, you can take comfort in knowing your editorial does get read! John & Joy Surtees; also sent in by John West A CTA trip to Hereford on 25 February 1984 visited the and both on bingo and the , where I believe this photo is. Can you identify any members? Sent in by Clive Polden.

This is Charlie Roe, having a break from projecting films at Gary Trinder’s home last year! David Eve I’m sorry, I forgot who sent this in – maybe Ian Bellion? 30 The former North London Polytechnic building in Kentish Town is still boarded-up, seven years after development plans were first mooted. The hoardings that proclaim the arrival of a cinema are starting to The Theatre Historical Society of America (THS) has purchased the grate. Now some undisclosed local artists have given the message an in the Dormont suburb of Pittsburgh, PA. The appropriate guerrilla refresh! building dates from 1925 and THS aims to continue operating the Kentish Towner - 20 April; sent in by Terry Hanstock theatre as a community resource by showing movies, hosting pro- grammes and community events while “bringing showmanship back The campaign group 38 Degrees has begun a petition to force major to Main Street!” {4730} cinema chains such as and to ditch plastic straws and to Sent in by Jeremy Buck sell their drinks with paper straws instead. Plastic straws are one of the biggest causes of plastic pollution, clogging up landfill and chok- Queues for the ladies’ at the theatre are a nightmare. Old-fashioned ing our oceans. Pub chain Wetherspoons, who have converted several 19th Century theatres were not built with con- old cinemas into pubs, have already ditched plastic and now only use veniences in mind. So it was to be hoped paper straws. that the spanking new in Sent in by Mike Whitcombe London, which has just opened, would have dealt with that problem. But no. A grand tier box at the with 12 seats and The Queen At a packed matinée I found myself as your neighbour is for sale at £3m. Queen Victoria bought 20 boxes in a long loo queue, anxiously count- when the hall opened in 1871 and our Queen still retains one, which ing the minutes. To make matters like the box for sale has 12 seats, rather than 10 in the other grand worse there was a sign – a circle tier boxes. Grand Tier boxes rarely come on the market. with some arrows coming off it – that seemed to indicate that it was also Evening Standard- 28 March; sent in by Barry Quinton open to anyone who “identified” as a woman. I think that’s what it was. Or it could Box-office staff at the have taken a crash course in have been directions to the Old Street roundabout? Klingon after the venue announced it would give two free tickets to Daily Express – 17 March; sent I by Tom Laughlan anyone ordering in Klingon. It is the language spoken by the aliens in the Star Trek series. The toy theatre collection of the late Peter Baldwin, who died in 2015, Evening Standard – 28 February; sent in by Barry Quinton aged 82, was due to go up for sale at a Derbyshire auction on 5 April. Peter played Derek Wilton in Coronation Street for over 20 years. The sale was expected to generate world-wide interest. In 1998 the collec- tion was exhibited at the . Derby Telegraph – 15 March; sent in by Peter Good He directed three Bond films – You Only Live Odeon’s new US-based owners Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker. have rewritten history with this mu- His other credits include Michael Cain’s Alfie, ral inside the Haymar- which earned him an Oscar nomination, Educat- ket (previously Panton ing Rita and Shirley Valentine. Street). Allen Eyles comments: “The tall style of lettering, credited Ken Dodd became notorious for allowing his to design gurus Wolff Olins when it one-man shows to regularly spill over into the was introduced in 1997, reminded early hours of the morning. He maintained his me of that used by Blockbuster own ‘giggle map’ of the UK, updating it after every Video, who may have been inspired performance. His 42-week season at the London by the Hollywood sign. I struggle to Palladium in 1975 retains the theatre’s record see the resemblance between the for the longest run of a one-man show. Hollywood landmark letters and the logos used from 1930 until Well-known for his portrayal of rogue Claude 1997.” For further details regard- Greengrass in ITV’s Heartbeat (1992-2000). He ing the evolution of Odeon logos, finished fourth in A Song for Europe in 1957 and see Allen’s books for the CTA, Odeon Cinemas 1: Oscar Deutsch came fourth in the Chesterfield by-election in Entertains Our Nation (pages 17-19) and Odeon Cinemas 2: From J 1984, when he stood as an independent Labour Arthur Rank to the Multiplex (pages 169-172, 182-187). against the party’s official nominee, Tony Benn. 31 revenues rose 37% to £40.6m in 2017 as the operator Theatres, concert halls, museums and cinemas are charging custom- expanded to 22 venues. Pre-tax profits climbed from £540,000 to ers for collecting tickets, buying them over the phone or even paying £1.6m. Their average ticket price increased by 3% to £11.28. The firm cash! Since January, firms have been barred from charging customers is to spend £3.2m transforming the former / in Lon- a fee for paying by credit card. This has prompted venues to try to claw don’s Upper Norwood into a four-screen cinema, which is expected to back this cash. The in Southampton levies a box-office open later this year – see p21 last Bulletin. collection charge of £3.25 and a £3.45 standard postage charge Evening Standard – 14 March along with service and facility charges. In total, these would pile an additional £8.85 on the cost of a £27 ticket to see comedian Jason Manford in October. The in Scunthorpe imposes a 12% reported an 11.6% rise in revenues to £890.7m in the year booking fee. Booking at the Stockport incurs a standard book- to 31 December, with pre-tax profits growing 22.7% to £120.5m. Box ing fee of £1.25 per ticket. office sales were up 6.4% to £553.7m and retail sales jumped 11.1% to £220.4m. The average ticket price was £6.51, compared to £6.25 Daily Mail – 14 March; sent in by Barry Quinton the previous year. The company opened 109 new cinema screens in the UK and Ireland in 2017. The ten-pin bowling industry has seen a 28% growth since 2012, Evening Standard – 15 March; Daily Mail – 16 March; whist nightclubs suffered an 18% decline. sent in by Margaret Burgoine, John R Forster, Tom Laughlan & Barry Quinton Daily Telegraph – 23 March; sent in by Carl Chesworth

Blockbuster films such as La La Land and Beauty and the Beast could A new report has shown that Worthing Theatres generated £3.5m in not stop cinemas posting a fifth consecutive annual pre-tax loss. ticket sales, catering and merchandise from 2015 to 2017. Although Sales role to £790.2m in the year while the loss declined from the theatres only just broke even, it is estimated they boosted the £103.4m to £92.8m, according to accounts filed in April. The chain, town’s economy by £3m per year. which has 212 sites across Europe, blamed high interest payments. The Argus, Worthing – 7 March; sent in by Barry Quinton The Sunday Times 15 April 2018; sent in by Allen Eyles Investors at Disney’s AGM rejected the proposal to increase the salary is gearing up to make its debut on the London Stock Exchange of boss Bob Iger by tens of millions of dollars but their decision is not in a £l.4bn listing. The cinema chain’s US parent AMC Entertainment legally binding. The 67-year-old chairman will get £35.1m this year, up is said to have appointed bankers at Citi to work on an initial public from £26.3m in 2017, with his basic salary alone hiked to £2.2m. offering. AMC chief Adam Aron said last year it was considering Daily Mail – 10 March; sent in by Barry Quinton floating a minority stake in but planned majority ownership. AMC has been investing in , as well as fitting cinemas with reclining seats and selling alcohol. Bidders were said to be circling Dame Helen Mirren has hit out at Netflix for the “devastating” effect after AMC suffered a £32m loss in the three months to September. it has had on her director husband. The streaming service does not give viewers the “communal experience” of seeing films in the cinema. Daily Mail – 22 March; sent in by Geoff Gill & Barry Quinton Daily Telegraph – 13 April; sent in by Carl Chesworth & Barry Quinton is moving its UK headquarters to #8 First Street in Manchester. The new offices are almost opposite the new arts cinema Regional theatre workers have voted 90% in favour to accept pay complex. The chain has opened seven refurbished ‘Luxe’ cinemas increases ranging from 3% to 4.7%. The agreement will see a 4.7% since October 2017 and was placed 25 in the Sunday Times list of increase for workers covered in grades four and five, bringing pay in best places to work in the UK. line with the national minimum wage, which increased in April from £7.50 to £7.83 per hour. Workers in grades one, two and three will Sent in by Carl Chesworth receive a 3% increase, meaning their hourly wage will increase by up to 25p and there will be a 3% increase for meal expenses and allow- Mecca Bingo owner Rank has issued a profits warning. It now expects ances. There is a separate agreement for working in the West End. full-year operating profits of £76m-£78m, compared with previous The Stage – 22 March; sent in by Barry Quinton analysts’ estimates of £85m. The shares fell more than 15% to 180p on the news. Revenues at the bingo halls dropped 2%. Cold weather and squeezed wages have been blamed for the downturn. Daily Telegraph – 6 April; sent in by Carl Chesworth

Cinemas was refused a licence to sell alcohol at its Coat- bridge (North Lanark) multiplex after Police Scotland objected to the proposals. It is believed the ban was the first of its kind at a cinema anywhere in the UK. The chain’s parent company, National Amuse- ments, challenged the decision by North Lanarkshire Council’s licens- ing board at Hamilton Sheriff Court, insisting that it was a draconian measure. The Sheriff ruled in the cinema firm’s favour, stating that the licensing board was unable to justify the concerns that prompted the ban in the first place. The Sheriff ruled the cinema should be granted a licence to sell alcohol at all screenings after 7pm. The Scotsman – 1 March; Daily Record – 2 March; sent in by Tom Laughlan

West End theatre audiences exceeded 15m for the first time last year. We reported on p26 of Bulletin 52/1 that the stage production of Brief Box-office takings were up for the 14th year running and reached £705m, up 9% on 2016. The average ticket cost £46.71. The total Encounter was to play at the Haymarket (ex ). The number of performances rose from 17,881 in 2016 to 18,203 in opening received excellent reviews. The production switches between 2017 although the number of new productions fell by 18, indicating live action and film, with several old movie-style clips, into which longer runs of shows. characters ‘climb’ by stepping through a curtain. Evening Standard - 2 March; Daily Mail - 16 March; Metro -28 February; The Stage – 18 March; sent in by Barry Quinton sent in by Carl Chesworth & Tom Laughlan; photo by Allen Eyles 32 A regular column celebrating our wonderful listed cinemas. All images come from the CTA Archive.

, 26 Hall Street, Campbeltown. Opened 26 May 1913. Architect Albert V. Gardner. A-listed. [No image]

, 1 High Street, Berkhamsted. Opened 9 May 1938. Architect David E Nye. Grade II listed.

, 3 Northumberland Street, Huddersfield. Opened 19 May 1923. Architect Clifford Hickson. Grade II listed. Image above from The Builder 24 November 1922

, South Street, Ilkeston. Opened 20 May 1938. Architect Reginald WG Cooper. Grade II listed.

, Tower Street, Kings Lynn. Opened 26 May 1928. / / , Station Road, Llanelli. Opened 18 June Architect JL Carmel / WD White. Grade II listed. 1938. Architect Harry Weedon / PJ Price. Grade II listed.

33 The Archive is in temporary accommodation and this makes it hard to receive visitors and to deal with enquiries quickly. We cannot access all of the material as some remains boxed up. Please make enquiries in the normal way via the enquiry form on the website or by emailing [[email protected]] and we will do our best to deal with these as soon as we can. To arrange to visit the Archive, first complete the enquiry form detail- ing your interest and why you would like to visit. If the material you want to see is accessible we will then book you a visit and help you find your way to us in Bow, East London. You will need to have a mobile phone to contact us on arrival, to be let into the building or agree a set time of arrival to then be collected from the reception area.

The CTA Archive can offer members an excellent opportunity to con- tribute towards preserving our cinema heritage. Whether it be putting your particular skills to good use or just giving some of your spare time, there are plenty of opportunities within our friendly environment and you might learn something new along the way! At the Harrogate Odeon’s 80th birthday in October 2016 [L-R] Please email [[email protected]]. James Bettley, David Wilkinson, Derrick Armstrong & Kevin Langford

Brian Hall posts regular weekly sets of unidentified cinema photo- Derrick was one of my oldest and most cherished friends. After graphs on the CTA-UK Yahoo! Group. Please consider joining this completing my cinema management training at the Odeon in York, I group [movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/cta-uk] and help us to identi- became the assistant/relief manager at the Harrogate Odeon, arriv- fy cinemas. It’s great fun! ing there in February 1967. On entering the foyer on that first morn- ing, a young man was coming towards the front doors and we introduced ourselves. That young man was Derrick who, at the time We are always keen to receive donated material and can accept this was the cinema’s No2 projectionist in a team of four plus an appren- in different formats. Of course, we always prefer to have originals. If tice. The only thing I’d not been taught during my training was actually however you cannot part with the material, then we are happy to how to show films, that task fell to Derrick. During Derrick’s teaching accept scanned material or copies of your digital photographs. me how to show 35mm film on twenty minute reels with the Odeon’s Please let me know before sending donations by post and do not send two Gaumont Kalee 21 projectors, it became obvious to me that not them directly to the archive as there is no facility to accept post only was he extremely dextrous at handling both film and equipment, securely. Please send items c/o 14 Ivychurch Gardens, Cliftonville, he was a master at achieving the best possible presentation and his Margate, CT9 3YG. Small quantities of scanned material or digital work was more a ‘labour of love’. Derrick used to say, “Nobody thinks photographs can be emailed to [[email protected]]. about the projectionist until something goes wrong” and his endeav- Clive Polden, CTA Archivist our was to put on a perfectly seamless performance. He was meticu- lous about using screen curtains, masking and lighting to best effect and playing appropriate ‘non-sync’ music before the programmes started and during intermissions. His work in the box was exemplary and, although I never needed to put what he taught me into practice, I could not have had a better teacher. Derrick had learned his trade as a rewind boy at the St. James’s cinema in Harrogate and as a projectionist at the Gaumont in the town. National Service in the Army took Derrick away from home territory but he came home to be welcomed back to the Gaumont and when that cinema closed, he transferred to the Odeon for his long run there where he was to become Chief Projectionist. I soon met Derrick’s lovely wife, Pauline and ever since 1967 we kept in touch. Derrick spent many years as Odeon Harrogate’s chief projec- tionist before retiring and he and Pauline moved to Filey – long a favourite haunt of the family. After a number of very enjoyable years in Filey, time was moving on and Derrick and Pauline made the decision to return to the Harrogate area wherein lived both their sons and their own families. Pauline died almost two years ago and Derrick missed her greatly. In 2017, Derrick and I spent ten days in South Devon, exploring coast, countryside and preserved railways. He loved the whole experience and it was to prove his last real holiday. Later that year his health began to deteriorate and he suffered a number of falls. A particularly bad fall at his home earlier this year, in which he sus- tained a head injury, led to him being hospitalised and a brain tumour was found to have been behind such a rapid decline. His This is a redesigned and much enlarged third edition of a book last few weeks were spent in a beautiful care home near Harrogate not available for more than 20 years, fully updated by its original and it was there I saw him for the last time a few short weeks ago. author, Allen Eyles. It is a complete record of all the cinemas As Derrick himself might have said, “Close screen tabs, bring up that have entertained picture-goers in the West End from 1906 floats first then houselights and play the National Anthem. The to 2013. There are maps, appendices of club cinemas and programme’s over”. It’s my turn now to feel bereft of such a valued theatres as temporary cinemas as well as a name index. friend and Derrick’s family to mourn a wonderful Dad and Granddad. Published in collaboration with English Heritage. James Bettley

34 We have been pleased to be able to send a warm welcome, in the In the last issue of the CTA Bulletin, the attention of members was order in which they joined, to the following new members of the CTA: drawn to the legislation, which comes into effect on 25 May this year. Samuel Whitehouse, Philip Butler, Glyn Balmer, Lawrence Sutcliffe, This is intended to protect personal information held by organisations Jordan Bedding, Jon Harrison, Ronald Nicholson, William Ratti, Alan about EU citizens and applies not just to electronic data records but Baker and Ian Barker. also to information kept on paper or other media. In the case of the CTA, the processing of members’ information is carried out electroni- Our most grateful thanks are extended to the following renewing cally but the membership secretary also prints a list of renewals due members who added a donation to their annual subscriptions: for each two month renewal period for checking purposes. This list is I Bacon, JS Barber, WA Bates, PT Bayley, P Beresford, AL Body, subsequently shredded when no longer needed. A screen-shot of the DP Brown, T Chapman, PJ Chester, J Clarkson, P Cooper, GE Cranch, membership database [below] showing a typical (fictional!) record DG Daykin, LJ Deacon, MS Derriman, IC Ewers, ET Faulkner, shows the information that may be held by the CTA. PJA Ferrari, GC Gibson, A Goodwin, E Griffiths, RP Hagon, P Hamer, Members can, at any time, request a copy of their personal record and CE Hide, GF High, S Jarvis, K Johnston, SB Kay, M King, JM Knight, can also request that the information held is deleted. Of course, in the RC Lobb, A Maltby, PV Marie, RL Maudsley, PN Metcalfe, TD Mills, latter case, it would then become impossible for the CTA to service RM Paddock, JW Perkins, L Pohani, JE Prickett, DP Rees, AG Roberts, their membership by sending the Bulletin or Picture House. Informa- NJ Ruben, JM Seligmann, SR Smith, GM Staples, JM Sturdy, J Surtees, tion about members who resign or lapse from membership is removed RI Thompson, RJ Tite, B Wakefield, AJ Weise, GJ Wheeler, DR Williams, from the database after a short period. Members may have received, RE Williams, TK Williams, J Wootton and MJ Yallop. from other more major organisations, requests to “sign up” to receive mailings from them. This applies in the case of begging letters, raffle tickets, requests for addition of the charity to a will and so on. As the We are sorry to record that Robert Herriott of Wellingborough passed CTA does not undertake any such mailings to members, it is not away on 27 February at the age of 76. Robert joined the CTA in 2003 needed for members to receive our periodicals, CTA Bulletin and and was also a member of the PPT. Also that Derrick M Armstrong of Picture House, to which, in effect, you “sign up” for by applying to join Knaresborough died on 17 April at the age of 81. He joined the CTA in or by renewing membership. 2008. Our sincere condolences are sent to their family and friends. Neville C Taylor, Membership Secretary Membership changes above are noted up to 27 April

halls), live theatres that show films on a semi-regular (and even a In case you are unaware of this, Committee member David Simpson regular) basis and restaurants, hotels and cafes that are installing administers, on behalf of the CTA, a list of all the UK’s currently their own ‘boutique’ cinemas. When assessing whether these qualify operating cinemas. This can be found on our website, at: as ‘cinemas’ for the purposes of the CTA’s listing, frequency of screen- [cinema-theatre.org.uk/uk-cinemas]. ings and whether there is public access without further obligation are David welcomes updates and amendments, which should be sent to the main determining factors but this can lead to much head-scratch- him at [[email protected]]. ing! (Pity the poor list compiler!) According to data compiled by the UK Cinema Association, in 2017 So, if your favourite movie palace isn’t on the list, don’t despair: David there were 801 cinema sites in the UK, including 395 with ‘five would love to hear from you! screens or more’. The advent of digital projection systems, which, And now you have a handy list you can consult when you are away given the funds, are relatively easy to install and operate, has led to from home, meaning you’ll never again have to miss your regular fix an explosion in ‘community cinemas’ (usually based in multi-purpose of movie entertainment!

35 Sent in by Carl Chesworth